It’s been a bit of a revolving door amongst senior management at Equifax ever since the massive data breach that exposed the personal information of nearly 148 million U.S. consumers to hackers was first disclosed. And it looks like the company isn't done making changes yet.
It all began in September 2017, when Equifax revealed that the names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers, of approximately 143 million consumers were stolen in the data breach.
After that initial disclosure, several Equifax executives stepped down, including its CEO Richard Smith. Later, the company updated the number of victims to 145.5 million, and then to nearly 148 million.
Smith was replaced as CEO by Paulino do Rego Barros, who led the company through much of the fallout, with Equifax actually seeing an increase in both its net income and revenue in the quarter immediately following the breach’s exposure.
Barros served as CEO until earlier this year, when the company named Mark Begor as its next CEO.
At the time, Equifax said that Barros, who previously served as president of Equifax’s Asia Pacific operations, will be retiring from the company next year and plans to assist Begor in the transition process.
But, it looks like Barros won’t be seeing that retirement quite so quickly after all.
Equifax announced Friday that Barros is being named to a new position, president of the company’s U.S. Information Solutions business, which creates “unique data assets, technology, analytics, and expertise to create unparalleled insights to help both businesses and consumers make more informed financial decisions.”
Barros will be replacing Trey Loughran, who announced he is leaving the company to “pursue a new opportunity,” the company said.
According to the company, its information solutions businesses one of the company’s largest business units, with estimated revenue of $1.3 billion.
And now, Barros will head up that division, a position he’s previously held.
Prior to serving as president of Equifax’s Asia Pacific business, Barros led the USIS business and international business unit. Prior to joining Equifax, Barros founded and served as president of PB&C – Global Investments.
He also held several executive positions at BellSouth Corporation and AT&T, including president of global operations at AT&T. Earlier in his career, Barros held executive and managerial roles at Motorola, The NutraSweet Company, and Monsanto Company.
“Paulino is a strong, experienced leader with deep knowledge of our company and the industry as well as a track record of successful leadership at Equifax, including being a former resident of the USIS business,” Begor said in a statement.
“USIS is critical to our company's growth, and I have total confidence in Paulino’s ability to drive the business forward at such a pivotal time in our history as we continue to focus on delivering innovation and powerful data-driven solutions to support our customers and address consumers' financial needs,” Begor added.
