BurgerFi, one of the nation’s fastest-growing premium fast-casual concepts and QSR’s 2020 Breakout Brand of the Year known for its better burgers, has hired Michael Rabinovitch as Chief Financial Officer. Rabinovitch holds over 25 years of extensive financial leadership skills from best-in-class publicly held retail and distribution companies, high growth retail concepts, extensive international experience and has completed and integrated over 25 acquisitions valued at over $2 billion dollars during his career.
“As BurgerFi continues to accelerate its growth strategy, Michael’s extensive experience in acquisitions, business processes and managing the strong financial structure and growth of large public companies adds significant value to our organization,” says Ophir Sternberg, Executive Chairman of BurgerFi. “We are pleased to welcome Michael to BurgerFi and look forward to his leadership.”
Rabinovitch joins BurgerFi after serving as Chief Accounting Officer at Tech Data Corporation, a $38 billion dollar, Fortune 100 global technology distributor. He also has held the positions of Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President of Finance for North America at Office Depot where he was responsible for all aspects of accounting policy and process including Sarbanes Oxley compliance.
“Michael will develop trusted relationships with key stakeholders and teams while building confidence and transparency. I know he understands key metrics for value creation and will collaborate with our leadership to deliver outstanding results,” says Julio Ramirez, CEO of BurgerFi. “I am thrilled to have him as part of my talented executive team.”
For nearly a decade, Rabinovitch served as Chief Financial Officer of Mayors Jewelers, Birks Group, with 77 locations across the United States and Canada. He was also the Vice President of Finance at Claire’s Stores during their years of rapid expansion and contributed to their growth from 1,200 to over 3,000 locations in 10 countries during his six year tenure with the brand. Rabinovitch began his career with Price Waterhouse (now PwC). He is a licensed certified public accountant (inactive). Rabinovitch has both Bachelor of Science degrees in accounting and finance from Florida State University and is an advisory board member of the School of Accounting at both Florida State University and University of South Florida.
“I am excited to be joining BurgerFi and look forward to adding value to the company as they execute on their growth strategy,” says newly appointed CFO, Michael Rabinovitch. “I am looking forward to supporting the leadership team in implementing strategies that will drive profitability of the organization and shareholder value.”
Rabinovitch replaces Bryan McGuire, Chief Financial Officer, effective April 1, 2021. During his time at BurgerFi, McGuire has helped the company maintain high standards of financial compliance and aided the company’s process to go public through a business combination via SPAC merger. McGuire will remain with BurgerFi to lead the company’s quarter-close process and financial filings, working with Rabinovitch to ensure a seamless transition.
