Blue Cross of La. seeks new CFO

By TED GRIGGS

tgriggs@theadvocate.com

Advocate business writer



Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, the state's largest health insurer, is again shopping for a new chief financial officer.

Mike Rishell, senior vice president and CFO, and Blue Cross President and Chief Executive Officer Gery Barry mutually agreed that it was time for Rishell "to pursue another career opportunity," company spokesman John Maginnis said Wednesday.



Maginnis said he did not know what Rishell's future plans involved. Rishell could not be reached for comment.



Rishell became Blue Cross's chief financial officer in 2002. He replaced Carl Kennedy, who had said in published reports that he was fired in 2001 by Blue Cross President and Chief Executive Officer Kathryn Sullivan.



Kennedy was named chief financial officer at Blue Cross in 1999. He took over when Sullivan moved up to the chief executive's office.



Sullivan herself was ousted by the Blue Cross board of directors in 2004 and later replaced by Barry.



Maginnis said he could not comment on the reasons for Rishell's departure, other than the decision was mutual.



CFO Magazine lists a number of reasons for CFO's increasingly short tenures. One popular reason is that a company's new chief executive officer wants his or her own person in the position.



CFO Magazine has reported the average tenure of a chief financial officer is eight years. However, some executive placement firms place the average at two years or less.