IRVING, Texas, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra (NYSE:
VST) today is announcing the appointment of Jim Burke as president and chief financial
officer, effective immediately. Mr. Burke, who has been with Vistra
and its predecessor companies since 2004, has been serving as
executive vice president and chief operating officer since 2016.
Vistra's outgoing CFO, David
Campbell, will be leaving to join Evergy Inc., a
Missouri-based regulated utility,
as its chief executive officer following a transition period
through the end of the year.
![Vistra Logo (PRNewsfoto/Vistra) Vistra Logo (PRNewsfoto/Vistra)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1213334/Vistra_Logo.jpg)
"Jim's vast knowledge of the industry and expansive
understanding of our company will prove invaluable," said
Curt Morgan, Vistra's chief
executive officer. "During his time here, Jim has led most of
Vistra's teams, giving him unique insight and knowledge of our
company and the CFO position will round out Jim's experience. Jim
is highly respected both inside and outside of our company and his
strong business and financial acumen, combined with the talents of
our existing finance organization, will position Vistra for
continued growth and success as we transform our portfolio. The
board of directors and I are thrilled to appoint Jim as our new
president and CFO."
Morgan continued, "I also want to thank David for his leadership
and contributions to our company. The entire Vistra family wishes
him much success."
In his new capacity, Mr. Burke will assume broad responsibility
for the company's accounting, risk, internal audit, treasury, tax,
planning, M&A, and investor activities, along with
overseeing the critical technology services function. Mr. Burke
will continue to report to Mr. Morgan.
Mr. Burke said, "I've been fortunate to work at this incredible
company for 16 years, but there's never been a more exciting time
to be part of this team. The industry is changing quickly and
Vistra is well-positioned to lead the energy transformation – I'm
looking forward to serving our customers, our people, and our
shareholders in a new role."
With Mr. Burke's move to CFO, his former position of COO is
being eliminated and the various operational functions reporting to
that position are being realigned within the organization. The
retail and generation businesses, including development of the
zero-carbon Vistra Zero generation portfolio, will report to
Mr. Morgan. Prior to this announcement the Vistra board of
directors initiated discussions with Mr. Morgan, which are
ongoing, to extend the term of his employment agreement in
recognition of his commitment to lead the company as it transitions
to a low-to-no emissions fleet comprised primarily of natural gas,
renewables, and energy storage while growing the company's retail
business.
Jim Burke Bio
Mr. Burke is a 20-year veteran of the electricity industry.
Prior to his role as Vistra's COO, he previously served as chairman
and CEO of TXU Energy, the leading competitive retailer in
Texas and a subsidiary of Vistra
and its predecessor company. Mr. Burke led TXU Energy from
August 2005 to October 2016 after joining in late 2004 as senior
vice president of TXU Energy's residential markets.
Before to joining TXU Energy, he was president and COO of Gexa
Energy, and vice president of residential marketing then senior
vice president of consumer operations with Reliant Energy.
Prior to his experience in competitive electricity markets, Mr.
Burke worked at The Coca-Cola Company for six years, both
domestically in the juice division of The Minute Maid Company and
internationally in the expansion of the juice business through
Coca-Cola Bottlers in Latin
America, South Africa, and
Hong Kong. Prior to Coca-Cola, he
was a management consultant for Deloitte & Touche
Consulting.
Mr. Burke is a licensed certified public accountant and has also
earned the designation as a chartered financial analyst. He is a
graduate of Tulane University, earning
a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's in business
administration in finance and general management.
Outside of his responsibilities at Vistra, Mr. Burke currently
serves as a board member of the Nuclear Energy Institute and as an
advisory board member for the Tulane
University Energy Institute. He is also a member of the
board for the United Way Foundation of Metropolitan Dallas and the
Ursuline Academy of Dallas.
Media
Meranda Cohn
214-875-8004
Media.Relations@vistracorp.com
Analysts
Molly Sorg
214-812-0046
Investor@vistracorp.com
About Vistra
Vistra (NYSE: VST) is a leading, Fortune 275 integrated retail
electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas, providing essential resources
for customers, commerce, and communities. Vistra combines an
innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with safe,
reliable, diverse, and efficient power generation. The company
brings its products and services to market in 20 states and the
District of Columbia, including
six of the seven competitive wholesale markets in the U.S. and
markets in Canada and Japan, as well. Serving nearly 5 million
residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with
electricity and natural gas, Vistra is the largest competitive
residential electricity provider in the country and offers over 50
renewable energy plans. The company is also the largest competitive
power generator in the U.S. with a capacity of approximately 39,000
megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio, including natural gas,
nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. In addition,
the company is a large purchaser of wind power. The company is
currently constructing a 400-MW/1,600-MWh battery energy storage
system in Moss Landing,
California, which will be the largest of its kind in the
world when it comes online. Vistra is guided by four core
principles: we do business the right way, we work as a team, we
compete to win, and we care about our stakeholders, including our
customers, our communities where we work and live, our employees,
and our investors. Learn more about our environmental, social, and
governance efforts and read the company's sustainability report at
https://www.vistracorp.com/sustainability/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The information presented herein includes forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which are
based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the
industry and markets in which Vistra Corp. ("Vistra") operates and
beliefs of and assumptions made by Vistra's management, involve
risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and are not
guarantees of future performance, that could significantly affect
the financial results of Vistra. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, that are presented herein, or in
response to questions or otherwise, that address activities, events
or developments that may occur in the future, including such
matters as activities related to our financial or operational
projections, the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our
results of operations, financial condition and cash flows,
projected synergy, value lever and net debt targets, capital
allocation, capital expenditures, liquidity, projected Adjusted
EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate, dividend policy, business
strategy, competitive strengths, goals, future acquisitions or
dispositions, development or operation of power generation assets,
market and industry developments and the growth of our businesses
and operations (often, but not always, through the use of words or
phrases, or the negative variations of those words or other
comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature, including,
but not limited to: "intends," "plans," "will likely," "unlikely,"
"believe," "confident", "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate,"
"continue," "will," "shall," "should," "could," "may," "might,"
"predict," "project," "forecast," "target," "potential," "goal,"
"objective," "guidance" and "outlook"), are forward-looking
statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Although Vistra believes that in making
any such forward-looking statement, Vistra's expectations are based
on reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement
involves uncertainties and risks that could cause results to differ
materially from those projected in or implied by any such
forward-looking statement, including, but not limited to: (i)
adverse changes in general economic or market conditions (including
changes in interest rates) or changes in political conditions or
federal or state laws and regulations; (ii) the ability of Vistra
to execute upon the contemplated strategic, capital allocation, and
performance initiatives and to successfully integrate acquired
businesses; (iii) actions by credit ratings agencies; (iv) the
severity, magnitude and duration of pandemics, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting effects on our results of
operations, financial condition and cash flows; and (v) those
additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission by Vistra from time to time,
including the uncertainties and risks discussed in the sections
entitled "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in
Vistra's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019 and any subsequently filed
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only at the date on which
it is made, and except as may be required by law, Vistra will not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors
emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all of
them; nor can Vistra assess the impact of each such factor or the
extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statement.
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SOURCE Vistra