Charter Communications CFO Jessica Fischer will step down Oct. 15 to become founding chief financial officer of a new joint venture backed by Blackstone and Google, the companies confirmed. Fischer announced the move on LinkedIn, calling it 'an exciting new opportunity in the AI infrastructure space.'
The venture, announced by Blackstone and Google in May, will build a U.S.-based company supplying computing infrastructure for AI models and applications. Blackstone is committing an initial $5 billion in equity. The target is 500 megawatts of capacity by 2027, with plans to expand substantially beyond that. Google will supply its AI chips and related technology. Longtime Google infrastructure executive Benjamin Treynor Sloss will serve as CEO.
Kevin Howard, a Charter veteran and the company's EVP, chief accounting officer and controller, was named interim CFO on Monday while Charter searches for a permanent replacement.
Fischer, 41, joined Charter in 2017 as corporate treasurer, rose to EVP of finance, and became CFO in 2021. Before Charter, she was a partner in EY's national tax department. Charter CEO Chris Winfrey called her a key member of the executive team and credited her with helping build Spectrum into the country's largest broadband and video provider.
The departure lands as Charter, No. 85 on the Fortune 500, contends with steeper-than-expected broadband subscriber losses driven by intensifying competition from fixed-wireless providers. In an SEC filing, Charter said Fischer's resignation did not stem from a disagreement with the company and was unrelated to its operations or financial reporting.
Fischer is moving from a capital-intensive but maturing connectivity market to a venture at the opposite end of the growth curve — one preparing to spend billions building computing capacity as demand for AI infrastructure accelerates. Building that capacity requires large upfront investment and calls on management to size decisions against uncertain future demand and returns, the kind of long-horizon capital allocation Fischer managed at a large public company.
Elsewhere in Fortune 500 finance moves this week, Dave Hulays was promoted to CFO of The Hershey Company, effective Sept. 2, succeeding Steve Voskuil, who plans to retire in early 2027 and will transition to SVP of strategic projects. Hulays joined Hershey in 2012 and previously spent 15 years at Procter & Gamble. Separately, Aric Chang was appointed CFO of American Healthcare REIT effective Oct. 1, succeeding Brian Peay, who is retiring after 10 years in the role; Chang arrives from Public Storage, where he served as CFO of real estate.
The numbers come first, and the number here is $5 billion of private equity chasing a single infrastructure bet — capital Washington did not appropriate and a workforce decision no regulator dictated. Blackstone and Google are moving billions and a proven Fortune 500 finance chief toward AI computing capacity because the market, not a mandate, says that is where returns sit.
For Charter, the loss stings precisely because it is losing to a better opportunity, not to dysfunction; the company itself says this was not a falling-out. That is what a functioning capital market looks like: talent and money migrating toward the sector with the clearest growth trajectory, while a mature telecom incumbent is left to compete harder for subscribers against fixed-wireless rivals. Free enterprise, not central planning, is deciding where America's AI buildout gets its next dollar and its next decision-maker.
