Equifax Names Interim CEO
Richard Smith, the Equifax CEO resigned abruptly with a possible pay day worth roughly $90 million—or approximately 64 cents for every customer whose data was potentially exposed in its recent security breach.
Richard F. Smith, 57, the Equifax CEO, is the third executive to ‘retire’ following the company’s massive data breach revealed this month. This breach risked the personal information of about 143 million people.
In announcing Smith’s retirement, Equifax said it reserved the right to change the “characterization of Mr. Smith’s departure” following an independent review. This means that if the review finds fault with Smith’s actions leading up to and following the hack, Equifax could still change the official reason for leaving from “retired” to “fired.”
Either way, Smith himself seems resigned to his fate. “The cybersecurity incident has affected millions of consumers, and I have been completely dedicated to making this right,” he said in a statement. “At this critical juncture, I believe it is in the best interests of the company to have new leadership to move the company forward.”
Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., president of company’s Asia Pacific region, has been appointed as interim CEO. The announcement was made Tuesday by Mark Feidler, a non-executive chairman.
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