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Philip I Kent rejoins TBS as chairman and CEO
CALIFORNIA: Philip I Kent, a veteran senior executive at Turner Broadcasting System who last served as President of the CNN News Group, has rejoined Turner as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He will report to the chairman of AOL Time Warner’s Entertainment & Networks Group, Jeffrey Bewkes.
Jamie Kellner, who has led Turner for the past two years in Atlanta, will return to California and continue as Chairman and CEO of the WB Network till the end of his employment agreement in the summer of 2004.
Kent will lead the CNN News Group; Turner’s entertainment networks, including TNT, TBS Superstation, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Turner South and Boomerang; and Turner Sports, as well as the Turner Sports properties, which include the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers and Philips Arena. He will begin to work immediately with Kellner on a transition plan and then formally take over as Turner’s Chairman and CEO on 10 March.
Kent brings a wide range of professional experience to his new position and has earned a strong reputation as a leader and team builder throughout Turner. As President of TBS International, he was instrumental in shifting the international strategy of the Turner news and entertainment networks toward a more regional and local focus. He was charged with overseeing Turner’s wide-ranging business activity in Asia, Europe and Latin America, including all sales, distribution, business development, joint partnerships and business alliances outside of the United States.
At CNN, he was an early architect of many of the news group’s current strategic initiatives and was instrumental in the recruitment and retention of key on-air and executive talent. Through his varied career in television, Kent has worked effectively with a full range of customers and constituents of TBS – entertainment and journalism talent, cable and satellite operators and advertisers throughout the world, as well as a diverse and multicultural workforce.
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Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
