Darren Wells was named Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company on Jan. 1, 2023, after serving as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2018. In this role, Wells leads the company’s strategy and growth agenda, including its Strategy and Business Development functions. He also has responsibility for both Information Technology and Project Management.
Wells originally joined the company in 2002 as Vice President and Treasurer. He became Senior Vice President, Business Development and Treasurer in 2005 and Senior Vice President, Finance and Strategy in 2007. In 2008, Wells was named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and served in that role for five years, through 2013.
During his first tenure as CFO, Wells played a lead role in crafting the company’s Strategy Roadmap and was responsible for many of the financial decisions and actions that enabled the company’s recovery following the global recession.
Over the course of his Goodyear career, Wells has led many projects that were critical to reducing the company’s debt and ensuring its long-term financial health. He was the architect of the company’s capital allocation plan, the freezing and funding of its U.S. pension plans as well as the groundbreaking VEBA agreement with the United Steelworkers union for post-retirement healthcare obligations.
In 2013, Wells was named President of the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business unit and served in that role for two years. Wells left Goodyear in early 2016 and served as Executive-inResidence and MBA Coach at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business prior to his return to Goodyear in 2018.
Previously, Wells was Assistant Treasurer of Visteon Corp., where he led the development of a treasury operation as the parts manufacturer was spun-off from Ford Motor Company. Wells joined Ford in 1989.
