Evercore named Celeste Mellet Brown its next CFO, effective Sept. 1. As CFO, she will be responsible for Evercore’s financial, tax, internal audit, information technology, investor relations, communications and real estate functions.
Mellet Brown will succeed Robert B. Walsh, who announced his intention to retire from Evercore at the end of this year. She will become a senior managing director of Evercore on July 1, allowing her to work with Walsh both before and after assuming the role of CFO.
Mellet Brown has more than 20 years of industry experience, most recently serving as executive vice president and CFO of Fannie Mae, where she was responsible for financial management functions, including controllers, treasury, asset/liability management and financial reporting, planning and analysis. She also had oversight for corporate strategy, including strategic planning and research. Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Mellet Brown spent 18 years at Morgan Stanley, where she served in a variety of roles, most recently as global treasurer and before that as head of investor, creditor and counterparty relations and as an equity research analyst.
“We are delighted to welcome Celeste to our leadership team,” John Weinberg, co-chairman and co-CEO of Evercore, said. “Her financial expertise and superior track record at Fannie Mae and before that at Morgan Stanley make her extremely well qualified to lead Evercore’s finance organization as we enter our next phase of growth. Bob has done an extraordinary job laying the groundwork for our success to date and we are grateful for his many significant contributions to the firm. We have greatly valued Bob’s leadership, professionalism and focus on continuing to evolve Evercore with our mission to serve clients with excellence. On a personal note, I have immensely appreciated Bob’s counsel, thoughtful advice and friendship.”
“We are thrilled that Celeste has chosen to succeed Bob in this role that is critically important to our future success. We feel fortunate to have attracted such a strong talent to our firm,” Ralph Schlosstein, co-chairman and co-CEO of Evercore, said. “With respect to Bob, he has served as a great partner since I arrived at Evercore more than a dozen years ago, working arm in arm with the entire leadership team to build the Evercore platform and brand. His determination, pragmatic focus, creativity and leadership have been instrumental to our success and his contributions have been invaluable. He has built an exceptional leadership team who will continue to work closely with John and me, and shortly Celeste, as we continue to build the firm in the future. On behalf of the board of directors and all of our colleagues, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Bob for his tireless work and significant contributions to the firm. We could not have achieved our current success without him and he definitely will be missed.”
“I am thrilled to join Evercore’s talented team. I have long admired the firm and I am honored to be joining the team during such an exciting time in Evercore’s evolution. I am energized by the many opportunities ahead for Evercore and am looking forward to partnering with the leadership team and contributing to its continued success,” Mellet Brown said.
“It has been a privilege to serve as a member of Evercore’s leadership team for the past 14 years,” Walsh said. “Together, we have built the leading independent investment banking and securities firm and have cultivated a strong team that is poised to compete with the largest and most successful firms in the business. As I step back to focus on family and consider my next challenge, I will be closely following Evercore’s success. I am confident in my team, the board and leadership’s ability to continue to grow the business.”
