Cisco CFO Dennis Powell rides the huge Cisco earnings tsunami wave to a happy retirement

Owning 2,166,207 Cisco shares as of last July 29th, 2006, Powell is sitting on a retirement nest egg of at least $64 million.

Powell started his Cisco career in 1997 as vice president, corporate controller. His responsibilities included global financial reporting, international tax strategies and implementation, corporate procurement, and internal auditing.

View Dennis Powell Presentation on Cisco Shareholder Value

During this time, Powell led the development of processes and systems that transformed the "virtual close" from concept to reality at Cisco. The "virtual close" allows Cisco to close its worldwide financials in less than one day and have real-time access to its critical financial metrics.

Promoted to senior vice president, corporate finance in June 2002, Powell assumed additional responsibilities for financial planning and analysis, oversight of business unit and operational controllers, and analysis for mergers and acquisitions. A strong proponent of transparent financial reporting, Powell was instrumental in driving corporate initiatives to implement SEC and FASB changes and requirements.

Under his guidance, Cisco dramatically improved forecasting accuracy and drove accountability to the business unit level by contribution margin.

Prior to joining Cisco, Powell had a 26-year tenure at Coopers & Lybrand LLP (currently PricewaterhouseCoopers). As a senior partner, he was the engagement lead for several large multinational clients. Powell was also a National SEC reviewer for the firm and had regional responsibilities for audit quality assurance in the United States.

Appointed to Cisco CFO in May 2003, Powell holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Oregon State University.