The broadcast television ownership group that’s also the parent of Dielectric and is shepherding the transaction of digital over-the-air signals to ATSC 3.0 has selected a new EVP/Chief Financial Officer.
He’s already in the role at the Baltimore-headquartered company, as Lucy Rutishauser takes an important step toward retirement.
Narinder Sahai brings more than two decades of strategic financial leadership across publicly traded and private-equity-backed companies, “with deep expertise across the full breadth of finance functions, including capital markets, treasury, controllership, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, and planning and analysis,” Sinclair Inc. said on Monday.
The company also cited his “strong technology expertise, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, from his Amazon Web Services (AWS) experience and undergraduate degree in electronics and electrical communication engineering.”
Sahai is the former CFO at Arcis, a leisure and hospitality operator, where he led financial planning, accounting, tax, treasury and debt investor relations. Prior to Arcis, he was CFO of RumbleOn Inc., a “publicly-traded technology-driven omnichannel powersports platform.”
At Amazon’s AWS, Sahai served as Head of Worldwide Go-to-Market Finance for Compute and AI/Machine Learning services, providing financial leadership for specialist sales teams across global markets. Before AWS, Sahai served as SVP/Treasurer and Investor Relations at Target Hospitality Corp., where he managed all investor relations and capital markets activities for the company’s equity public market debut and executed comprehensive debt financing transactions.
Earlier in his career, Sahai spent nearly a decade at FMC Technologies, Inc. and TechnipFMC plc , a publicly-traded diversified oilfield services company, in progressive finance leadership roles in investor relations, financial planning and analysis, operations finance and controllership, and regional and corporate treasury.
Sinclair President/CEO Chris Ripley commented, “Narinder’s proven track record as CFO of both publicly traded and private-equity-backed companies, combined with his operational discipline and strategic financial leadership, makes him exceptionally well-suited to guide Sinclair through its next phase of growth. He brings a unique perspective having worked in multiple industries-including cloud and AI-focused companies. Narinder is a proven C-suite leader with a strong history of executing value-creating strategies, optimizing capital structures, and driving margin improvement. We’re looking forward to him building on our culture of success, industry leadership, and best-in-class finance team, especially as we advance commercialization strategies around ATSC 3.0 and continue to deliver long-term value for our stakeholders.”
Sahai said, “I am honored to join Sinclair during such an exciting period of transformation and growth. Having worked across diverse industries-from automotive and energy to consumer and technology-I have a deep appreciation for companies that are successfully transforming themselves while maintaining strong operational discipline. Sinclair’s unique position at the intersection of local media, sports, and emerging technology creates tremendous opportunities. From the company’s leadership position in local broadcasting, combined with its pioneering work in ATSC 3.0 technology, the strength of Tennis Channel, and innovative ventures portfolio, I see significant potential to drive value creation for all stakeholders. I look forward to working with Chris, the Board, and the entire team to execute on Sinclair’s strategic vision while maintaining the strong financial discipline that has positioned the company for success.”
A FINAL MOVE FOR RUTISHAUSER
With Sahai’s arrival, Rutishauser will retain her EVP role as she relinquishes the Chief Financial Officer responsibilities she’s held for 26 years. She will remain involved with Sinclair until her previously announced retirement later this year, at which time she will assume the role of Senior Advisor.
Rutishauser, who ranks at No. 2 in the RBR+TVBR Broadcast Best Finance Leaders annual ranked list, rose to EVP/CFO from Sr. VP/ CFO in February 2020.
Sinclair Executive Chairman and Board Chairman David Smith commented, “Lucy has been an invaluable part of our team who has seen it all. She helped lead us through multiple industry consolidations and navigated through the Great Recession, the pandemic, and a cybersecurity ransomware incident. Lucy has clearly communicated and explained our value proposition to Wall Street investors and successfully managed complex capital market transactions that gave us the flexibility to grow and transform the company. Lucy is an engaged leader with an incredible work ethic. We appreciate her many contributions over the past 26 years that helped position us as an industry leader.”
Ripley shared, “We have been fortunate to have someone of Lucy’s caliber as part of our executive team. She is well known and respected in the financial community, having been the face of the company with Wall Street during her career. Lucy has ensured that the company is well-funded for the future, having just completed an almost $4 billion comprehensive restructuring of our balance sheet. She has been a mentor and a strong leader to the organization who not only developed a best-in-class financial team but also continuously educates herself.
“Her focus on fiscal responsibility, as well as her approach to continuously challenging our business leaders and staff to ask questions, dig deeper, and innovate have not only raised their level of thinking, problem-solving skills, and financial acumen, but more importantly have grown our bottom line. Lucy has graciously offered to continue with us through the transition of the next CFO and thereafter in a senior advisory role.”
Rutishauser has been with Sinclair since 1998 and has served in multiple leadership positions including Treasurer, Head of Investor Relations, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance, and de facto Chief Risk Officer.
