Lumen Selects a New CFO to Lead Return to Growth

Lumen Technologies, formerly known as CenturyLink, has selected Chris Stansbury to succeed Neel Dev as the networking services and computing infrastructure company’s CFO, effective April 4.

Stansbury has more than 30 years of finance leadership experience at multinational corporations spanning both the tech and consumer products industries. He most recently worked at Arrow Electronics as the company’s CFO. Before that, Stansbury served as CFO for HP’s Networking Group and held finance positions of increasing responsibility at PepsiCo.

In a press release, Lumen CEO Jeff Storey called Stansbury a “tenured finance executive” and highlighted his track record of delivering growth and value creation in his prior roles.

"As we drive toward our goal of delivering profitable revenue growth and improving our revenue mix as a result of the expected closing of two significant divestitures later this year, it is a natural time for us to find the leader best positioned to achieve our goals,” Storey added.

Stansbury joins as the company invests in scaling its recently launched Lumen Platform and continued Quantum Fiber buildout, which Storey called “critical drivers of our return to growth.”

Lumen is in the midst of a rebound after years of underwhelming financial performance. In 2021, Lumen reported a net income of just over $2 billion, a massive turnaround from a net loss of $1.232 billion the year prior. However, the company’s improved profitability was largely driven by cost-cutting as its total revenue decreased slightly in 2021.

"This is an important time in Lumen's transformation, and I look forward to continue building on the great work the team has underway," Stansbury said. "Lumen has a strong financial foundation and significant opportunities for value creation. I am excited to be joining the company and can't wait to get started."