Xero has bolstered its Board and management team with the appointment of a new Board Chairman.

New York based Chris Liddell has been appointed as independent Chairman of the Board of Xero Limited, replacing Sam Knowles who has resigned as Director and Chairman of Xero Limited effective today.

Other senior appointments include Bill Veghte, who has been appointed as a US-based Director, and Peter Karpas, who will lead the US team as CEO, North America.

Xero CEO and Founder Rod Drury says, “As you would expect from a fast expanding software company, our strategy is to increase US representation on our Board. These three high calibre appointments are all significant additions to our American-based leadership team and position us strongly in the US and globally. Adding their combined experience and capabilities will help us become the global leader in small business financial software.”

Chris Liddell as Chairman of the Board of Xero Limited

Liddell most recently worked with General Motors where he held the Vice Chairman and CFO roles since joining the organisation in January 2010. He led the company’s global finance operations and its US$23 billion IPO in November 2010.

Prior to General Motors, Liddell held the Senior Vice President and CFO roles at Microsoft between 2005 to 2009, served as CFO of International Paper from 2003 – 2005 and held the CFO role at Carter Holt Harvey from 1995 to 1998 before becoming CEO in 1999.

Departing Chairman of the board Sam Knowles sees Xero’s move to a US-based Chairman as the next logical move for Xero’s transition to a global business.

Xero CEO Rod Drury says, “Sam has helped guide us through a period of rapid global expansion to over 600 people operating across four countries. His experience ensured we put in place the right foundations, systems and processes that enabled us to scale, while retaining our nimbleness and culture. We thank him for his enormous contribution and leadership.”

Bill Veghte appointed Director, based in the US

Based in San Francisco, Bill Veghte has been appointed as an independent non-executive Director of Xero Limited. Bill runs HP’s Enterprise Group where he is Executive Vice President and General Manager. In his role, he is responsible for the development and delivery of IT infrastructure solutions and the direction, management, and delivery of HP’s cloud efforts.

HP’s Enterprise Group is a US$28 billion annual revenue business that includes server, storage, networking, technology services, and cloud solutions.
Prior to HP, Veghte spent nearly 20 years at Microsoft where he held roles such as Corporate Vice President for Windows Server, then Corporate Vice President, North America before acting in the role of Senior Vice President until May 2010.

Peter Karpas appointed to new role of CEO, North America

Peter Karpas will assume the new role of CEO, North America. Peter joins Xero from PayPal where he recently held the position of Vice President and General Manager, North America for Small & Medium Business. Karpas has also held a number of senior roles at Intuit, including Chief Marketing and Product Management Officer and Senior Vice President.

Xero CEO Rod Drury comments “We are thrilled to have Peter join our team and lead our US business. His proven leadership, comprehensive familiarity with the B2B market in North America in both accounting and payments will help our drive for growth in the USA where there are over 29 million small businesses.”

Peter’s appointment will be effective as of 24 February, 2014.