Just a week after choosing a new CEO, WebMD Health Corp. is ousting Chief Financial Officer Peter Anevski.
The New York-based health information provider said Tuesday in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Anevski's “employment was terminated without cause by the company.” Anevski, 49, had been in his post since May 2013 and has held senior financial and operational roles at WebMD and its predecessor companies for more than 14 years, according to the WebMD website. Anevski's compensation most recently totaled $4 million.
A company spokesman declined to comment on Anevski's departure.
Blake DeSimone will step into the role of executive vice president and CFO effective immediately. DeSimone, 40, has been senior vice president of finance since joining WebMD in June 2015. In that role, he was responsible for WebMD's SEC and financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, and treasury management. DeSimone previously was CFO of global consumer electronics company D&M Holdings from 2010 to June 2015, and prior to that, he was president and CFO of Advogent Group, a technology and services provider for the healthcare industry that was acquired in 2010 by Advanced Health Media.
WebMD said in the SEC filing that no changes have been made to DeSimone's compensation as of the promotion. DeSimone's compensation was not disclosed in the announcement or in previous SEC filings.
The news comes just a week after WebMD's board of directors appointed Dr. Steven Zatz as the company's new CEO. Zatz, 59, was previously president of WebMD Health Corp. and will retain both titles. The company said in an SEC filing that Zatz's compensation hasn't changed as a result of his appointment. As president, his compensation totaled $4.3 million in 2015.
Zatz replaced David J. Schlanger, 57, who had served as CEO since August 2013 and left WebMD by “mutual agreement,” according a company statement. No other details were disclosed. The spokesman last week gave no additional comment on Schlanger's departure or his future plans.
During Schlanger's tenure as CEO, WebMD's yearly revenue grew 23.5% to $636.4 million in 2015, up from $515.3 million in 2013. Net income grew 323.6% to $64 million from $15.1 million during the same time period.
