• New York Post, Wednesday, November 11, 2009 10:36 PM

Hearst has tapped an investment banker as its new CFO because the company is quietly sitting on a $1 billion war chest. The hire of Mitchell Scherzer signals a more aggressive acquisition strategy by CEO Frank Bennack, who wants to fulfill the Hearst family mandate to find new revenue streams in digital and non-traditional media.

While Hearst profits are off, the company is said to have revenues of over $7 billion and to be profitable -- as well as debt-free. "The CFO appointment is absolutely not about cutting costs," confirms Reed Phillips, partner at investment bankers DeSilva & Phillips. Back in June 2006, Hearst CEO Victor Ganzi was pushed out because he was unable to develop a digital acquisition strategy, says a former executive.

Scherzer was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs from 1989 to 2002. More recently he headed the media practice at Silverfern Group.

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