U.S. Companies Are Hiring a Record Number of Women as CFOs

Ann Gugino’s appointment Monday as chief financial officer at pizza giant Papa John’s International Inc. adds to the record number of women now holding the top finance jobs at large U.S. companies. Gugino, who was hired from Target Corp., follows appointments of female CFOs in the past few months at Harley-Davidson Inc., Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. and WW International Inc., among others. If history is any guide, the promotion to CFO gets women into the C-suite, but it doesn’t often lead to promotion to chief executive officer.

“We’re sitting at an all time high now,” said Tom Kolder, president of executive recruiter Crist Kolder Associates, which counted 90 women ...