The new chief executive takes the reins as the company continues to be mired in scandal from a massive data breach
Embattled credit-reporting agency Equifax has named a new CEO.
The company has appointed Mark Begor to the position. Begor, 59, will replace Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., who has served as interim CEO since 2017. Barros stepped into the role following the ouster of Richard Smith, who retired after revelations that Equifax had been the victim of a data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 145 million consumers. Barros has announced that he will assist in the transition and retire from Equifax in early 2019.
Begor previously served as managing director of Warburg Pincus. Prior to that, he spent 35 years at General Electric, where he served in a variety of roles including president and CEO of GE Energy Management, president and CEO of GE Capital Real Estate, and president and CEO of GE Capital Retail Finance.
Begor takes the reins at Equifax as the company continues to be rocked by fallout from the data breach. The company sparked controversy when it admitted that it had known about the breach since July of 2017, but did not make it public until September. The company has since found itself at the center of dozens of lawsuits and congressional demands for accountability. And earlier this month, an Equifax executive was charged with insider trading when the Securities and Exchange Commission claimed that he dumped his company stock just before the breach was made public.
“I am excited to take the helm of Equifax at such a pivotal moment in the company’s history,” Begor said. “The team has made meaningful progress in the last several months to address a number of well-publicized issues while continuing to focus on delivering differentiated new products and advanced analytics to support our customers.”
