Former Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein will be joining talent and literary agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) as the company's new CFO.
Klein, who stepped down as the Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft last June, will assume his new role with immediate effect.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Klein worked in well-known companies like Homegrocer, Orca Bay Capital and McCaw Cellular. Klein then served as Microsoft's CFO for a total of 11 years after gradually rising through the company's corporate ladder. He started serving in the position of CFO back in 2009.
This is the first time that WME will have a CFO onboard. Klein will also serve as the CFO of IMG Worldwide, which will be acquired by William Morris for $2.4 billion. Once the acquisition is complete, WME will become one of the most powerful talent agencies in the world.
WME won IMG Worldwide after a furious bidding exchange and the recent announcement is part of the company's move in terms of merging the two companies. The investment giant Silver Lake also backed the purchase. Silver Lake executives were also behind Klein's installation when the firm proposed that Klein should serve of the CFO of WME.
When Klein was with Microsoft, he got on good terms with several Silver Lake executives during the Microsoft Skype acquisition. Klein was also involved when Microsoft backed Silver Lake's acquisition of Dell.
Klein is set to tackle the financial operations for WME and IMG as well as potentially growing the interests and offerings of both companies. He is also expected to introduce cost reduction methods in the near future.
"Peter's impressive track record and international experience will be a tremendous asset as we begin a new and exciting chapter in our company's history," said WME co-CEOs Patrick Whitesell and Ari Emanuel in a statement. "Peter's proven ability to structure and manage teams on a global scale, and bring rigor and organization effectiveness to businesses large and small, will help to strengthen both WME and IMG."
