Dell CFO Brian Gladden Resigns In First High Profile Exit After Going Private

(RTTNews) - Personal computer maker Dell, Inc., which was taken private in late October, on Friday promoted vice president Chief Accounting Officer Thomas Sweet to senior vice president and chief financial officer. Sweet will succeed Brian Gladden, who is resigning to pursue other career options.

Gladden's exit comes as the first high profile resignation at Dell since it was taken private three months ago on October 28 by its Founder, Chairman and CEO Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in a $24.9 billion deal.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell noted that Gladden has agreed to remain at the company until February-end to ensure a smooth transition.

In his new role, Sweet will be responsible for all aspects of Dell's finance function including accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax, treasury and investor relations as well as corporate strategy and development.

Gladden has served as senior vice president and CFO of the company since June 2008.He joined Dell after serving as president and CEO of SABIC Innovative Plastics Holding BV from August 2007 to May 2008. Earlier, he spent nearly 20 years with General Electric Co. (GE) in a variety of financial and management leadership roles.

The incoming CFO Sweet, age 54, was most recently serving as vice president of corporate finance, controller and chief accounting officer. He was responsible for external financial reporting for more than five years when Dell was public.

Sweet has also served in a variety of finance leadership roles at Dell including as Finance vice president, and has also served as the head of internal audit. He earlier served in a number of sales leadership roles in education and corporate business units since joining Dell in 1997.

Prior to Dell, Sweet served as vice president of accounting and finance, for Telos Corp., and also spent 13 years with Price Waterhouse in a variety of roles.

Dell, once a darling of Wall Street and the world's largest PC maker, was among the worst-hit tech giants during the recession. In recent times, Dell has been grappling with lower sales as consumers shift their preference to tablets and smartphones.