L Brands on hunt for new CFO; to complete separation of brands by August

A 20-year veteran of L Brands is retiring but will remain long enough to see the company separate its two brands — Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works — by this summer.

Stuart Burgdoerfer will retire as CFO of L Brands in August. Burgdoerfer has also been serving as interim CEO of Victoria’s Secret business. Martin Waters, currently CEO of Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, has been promoted to CEO of the Victoria’s Secret business, effective immediately.

“Martin Waters is an experienced retail executive who has led our international business for the past 13 years and recently stepped into the role of CEO of Victoria’s Secret Lingerie,” said Andrew Meslow, CEO of L Brands. “He is widely respected both inside and outside of our enterprise, and we are confident he will continue the momentum and progress in the Victoria’s Secret business.”

The company has started a search for Burgdoerfer’s successor as CFO, which will include both internal and external candidates.

L Brands said it remains committed to separating the Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works businesses. The company is currently targeting August 2021 to complete the separation. 

All options, including a spin-off of the Victoria’s Secret business into a public company or a private sale of the business, are being evaluated. Burgdoerfer will continue to lead this process in his role as L Brands CFO.

“The board and I are extremely grateful to Stuart for his leadership during his 20-year career at L Brands,” said Sarah Nash, chair of L Brands. “In the last 9 months, he has led the turnaround of the Victoria’s Secret business in addition to continuing to lead L Brands’ finance organization as CFO. He will be missed, and we appreciate that he will remain with the business to see us through the planned separation process.”