Good morning. Ulta Magnificence, the biggest specialty magnificence retailer within the U.S., has a brand new finance chief.
Following an exterior search, the corporate chosen Christopher DelOrefice, who will start his tenure on Dec. 5; Chris Lialios will proceed to function interim CFO till then. DelOrefice succeeds former CFO Paula Oyibo, who left the corporate in June.
He joins Ulta Magnificence (No. 375 on the Fortune 500) from medical expertise firm Becton Dickinson & Co., the place he has served as EVP and CFO since September 2021. Earlier than that, DelOrefice spent over 20 years with Johnson & Johnson in numerous monetary management roles, together with VP of investor relations, VP of finance, and CFO of North America shopper.
“I’m honored to welcome Chris to the Ulta Magnificence household as chief monetary officer,” Kecia Steelman, Ulta Magnificence’s president and CEO, informed Fortune. “Since moving into the CEO position earlier this yr, I’ve been centered on constructing a staff that displays our imaginative and prescient for development, and I’m proud to say that we’ve discovered the appropriate expertise to take us into the longer term.”
DelOrefice can be instrumental in executing the Ulta Magnificence “Unleashed” technique, Steelman stated. Introduced in March 2025, the technique outlines three key priorities: driving core enterprise development, scaling new ventures such because the UB Market, and realigning for fulfillment. The plan goals to extend market share by increasing internationally, enhancing in-store experiences, broadening wellness and product assortments, and deepening digital engagement.
“Ulta Magnificence is a formidable market chief within the magnificence class,” DelOrefice stated in a press release, expressing confidence within the firm’s development alternatives forward.
Ulta Magnificence grew its annual gross sales to $11.3 billion in 2024 from $912 million in 2007, due to opening greater than 1,000 shops and maturing its e-commerce platform, in keeping with a current report by Morningstar senior fairness analyst David Swartz. Whereas Ulta Magnificence faces robust competitors and fast product innovation, its loyal buyer base has enabled it to seize market share from mall-based retailers and compete successfully in opposition to Amazon and different e-commerce gamers, he wrote.
Morningstar believes Ulta Magnificence can additional scale back prices and broaden by leveraging buyer knowledge and rising its premium product providing. The agency forecasts Ulta Magnificence will broaden its home retailer base by about 20% over the following decade, with long-term, same-store gross sales development of 4%.
Steelman, president and CEO since January, joined Ulta Magnificence in 2014 and has held a number of management roles. She views DelOrefice as a strategic companion who will assist gas the corporate’s subsequent chapter.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Jonathan Mir was appointed CFO of Bitfarms Ltd. (Nasdaq/TSX: BITF), a North American vitality and digital infrastructure firm, efficient Oct. 27. Bitfarms’ present CFO, Jeff Lucas, can be retiring and can stay on as a strategic monetary advisor and advisor via Q1 2026. Mir has greater than 25 years of capital markets expertise in vitality infrastructure. He spent most of his profession at Lazard Inc., the place he served as head of North American energy, vitality and infrastructure. Most just lately, Mir was a managing director in Financial institution of America’s Pure Sources and Vitality Transition group.
Massive Deal
Deloitte’s inaugural “2025 GenAI in M&A Survey” gives perception into generative AI use in dealmaking and what tendencies are rising inside funding and deployment of the expertise.
A key discovering is that funding in generative AI will enhance. Amongst respondents, 83% have invested $1 million or extra within the expertise, particularly for his or her M&A groups (88% of personal fairness, 77% of company). Many anticipate rising their generative AI investments over the approaching 12 months both barely (54% of personal fairness, 58% of company) or considerably (24% of personal fairness, 28% of company).
“Whereas it is nonetheless early innings for the expertise, and M&A utility is at present targeting pre-sign actions, organizations are looking forward to its potential to assist inform resolution making, uncover new sources of worth, and drive post-deal synergies,” Erik Dilger, managing director of Deloitte Monetary Advisory Providers LLP, stated in a press release.
The findings are based mostly on a survey of 1,000 company and personal fairness leaders throughout main industries within the U.S.
Going deeper
Walmart stated it’s offering workers with AI instruments and coaching. That features selling AI literacy throughout its workforce by providing OpenAI Certifications and rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise to groups throughout the corporate.
Overheard
“In case you solely promote to the U.S., it’s a must to diversify.”
—Tan Su Shan, CEO of DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest Singapore-based financial institution, stated in the course of the Fortune Most Highly effective Girls Summit on Tuesday that her response to an unsure financial system is to diversify. She assumed the chief govt position in March, simply days earlier than President Donald Trump introduced new tariffs as a part of his administration’s agenda.
