Communications leadership at Fortune 500 companies changed in ten cases between September 2025 and October 24, 2026. Microsoft and PepsiCo announced moves of communications toward organizations led by legal executives. General Motors and Cigna added marketing to their communications leaders' responsibilities. Walmart, Meta, Disney, Cisco, UnitedHealth Group and Estée Lauder replaced or are replacing their top communicator.
The ten cases show different choices about who leads communications, what the role includes and whom it reports to. They are a selected set of publicly reported changes, not a measure of turnover across the Fortune 500.
Last updated: October 24, 2026
What changed at each of the ten companies?
The ten changes fall into three groups: communications moving under legal leaders, communications combining with marketing, and handoffs of the top communications job. Dates below separate announcements from effective changes, and ranks come from the 2026 Fortune 500 list. The moves sit within broader corporate communications practice.
Communications moving under legal and policy leaders
Microsoft (No. 11) and PepsiCo (No. 46) each announced in fall 2026 that communications will report through executives who also run legal functions.
Microsoft chief communications officer Frank Shaw announced on September 11 that he will leave at the end of 2026 after 17 years in the role, according to an Axios report on Shaw's exit. On September 26, a ContentGrip report on the move, citing GeekWire's coverage of internal emails, said Microsoft is moving communications out of marketing and into the Corporate, External and Legal Affairs organization led by vice chair and president Brad Smith.
Brent Colburn, Microsoft's vice president of global public affairs, is interim communications leader and reports to Smith. Shaw is stepping back from day-to-day duties and advising during the transition. Microsoft is searching internally and externally for a permanent chief communications officer, who is expected to report to Smith, according to GeekWire's report on internal memos. For how the function was organized before this change, see Microsoft's corporate communications and its ten-discipline rebuild.
PepsiCo executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer Stephen Kehoe will retire at the end of 2026 and stay on as an adviser until then, according to a PRWeek report on Kehoe and a Provoke report on the retirement published October 13. After his departure, communications, government affairs and public policy are set to move under PepsiCo general counsel David Flavell, who will become chief legal and corporate affairs officer, per Adgully's account of the restructuring. Chris Manzini, senior vice president and head of global communications, will report to Flavell.
When PepsiCo made Kehoe chief corporate affairs officer in 2023, he joined the executive committee and reported to the CEO, according to PepsiCo's 2023 appointment announcement.
Communications combining with marketing
General Motors (No. 23) and The Cigna Group (No. 14) each gave their communications chief responsibility for marketing.
GM announced on October 9, 2025 that Lin-Hua Wu, chief communications officer since August 2023, would become chief communications and marketing officer effective November 3. At that point she reported to GM chair and CEO Mary Barra for communications and to GM President Mark Reuss for marketing, according to a MediaPost report on GM's announcement.
Marketing chief Norm de Greve moved to a new chief growth officer role and left GM in June 2026, with some of his reports moving to Wu, according to a Detroit Free Press report on de Greve. GM's leadership bio for Wu, opened on October 24, 2026, lists her as executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer, a title it dates to July 2026. The communications playbook that built GM's reputation work is covered in General Motors' recall decade and the playbook that followed.
The Cigna Group promoted Melissa Skottegaard, its chief communications officer since 2020, to executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer, according to a PRWeek report on Skottegaard's promotion. Cigna's leadership bio for Skottegaard says she added leadership of marketing in early 2026. According to PRWeek, she reports to Nicole Jones, the company's chief administrative officer.
Handoffs of the top communications job
Six companies changed or are replacing their top communications executive: Walmart, Meta, Disney, Cisco, UnitedHealth Group and Estée Lauder.
Walmart (No. 2) senior vice president and chief communications officer Allyson Park moved to an advisory role on September 1 and will leave on February 1, 2027, according to a Bloomberg report on Park's exit published August 21. Walmart will look for her replacement externally. Progressive Grocer's coverage of the departure reported in late August that Park is advising Dan Bartlett, Walmart's executive vice president of corporate affairs, in the interim and that the search was still under way.
Meta (No. 17) elevated Tucker Bounds to head of communications and public affairs on September 28, according to an Axios report on Meta's change. David Ginsberg, who had headed the function, moved to a vice president role in product insights. Bounds had led a portfolio covering products and apps, executive communications, corporate communications and social channels.
Disney (No. 44) chief communications officer Kristina Schake departed after March 18, 2026, when CEO Bob Iger's tenure ended, according to Disney's announcement of Schake's departure. Paul Roeder became senior executive vice president and chief communications officer on March 19 and reports directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro, according to Disney's announcement naming Roeder. His responsibilities include media relations, executive and internal communications, public affairs and corporate social responsibility.
Cisco (No. 83) named Steve Clayton chief communications officer effective January 5, 2026, in a December 15, 2025 post by chair and CEO Chuck Robbins, Cisco's announcement of Clayton's hire. Clayton joined from Microsoft after 28 years, most recently as vice president of communications strategy. A GeekWire report on Clayton's move says he reports to Robbins, and an SDxCentral report on Cisco's hire says he followed interim head Heather Dickinson.
UnitedHealth Group (No. 3) appointed Liz Sidoti chief communications officer on September 2, 2025, replacing Jennifer Smoter, whose last day was September 1, according to a PRWeek report on the UnitedHealth appointment. Sidoti reports to Danielle Gray, executive vice president of corporate and external affairs, according to an internal announcement PRWeek saw. Smoter later joined Takeda as chief communications and governance officer, according to Takeda's profile of Smoter.
Estée Lauder (No. 315) chief communications and public affairs officer Meridith Webster stepped down on October 7, 2026 to pursue an external opportunity, according to a WWD report on Webster's exit. She joined in 2021 in a role that combined positions previously held by two executives.
How do the ten leadership changes compare?
The reviewed sources explicitly identify CEO reporting for Disney, Cisco and GM's communications responsibilities, while other disclosed reporting lines run through legal, administrative or corporate affairs executives.
| Company (Fortune rank) | Leadership change | Reporting line or status | Key dates |
|---|
| Estée Lauder (315) | Chief communications and public affairs officer stepped down | Successor not reported | Stepped down Oct 7, 2026 |
| PepsiCo (46) | Corporate affairs chief retiring; communications set to move under the general counsel | Head of global communications to report to the general counsel; move follows Kehoe's departure | Announced Oct 13, 2026; Kehoe leaves end of 2026 |
| Microsoft (11) | CCO leaving; communications moving from marketing to the legal and policy group | Interim lead reports to Brad Smith; permanent CCO expected to do the same | CCO exit announced Sep 11, 2026; reorganization reported Sep 26; Shaw leaves end of 2026 |
| Meta (17) | New head of communications and public affairs | Not reported | Sep 28, 2026 |
| Walmart (2) | CCO moved to advisory role, then exit | External search; Park advises the EVP of corporate affairs | Announced Aug 21, 2026; advisory Sep 1; exit Feb 1, 2027 |
| Cigna (14) | Communications leader added marketing | Chief administrative officer | Early 2026 |
| Disney (44) | New CCO | CEO | Effective Mar 19, 2026 |
| Cisco (83) | New CCO | CEO | Announced Dec 15, 2025; effective Jan 5, 2026 |
| GM (23) | Communications and marketing combined | CEO for communications, president for marketing, per the October 2025 announcement | Announced Oct 9, 2025; effective Nov 3, 2025; EVP title July 2026 |
| UnitedHealth (3) | New CCO | EVP of corporate and external affairs, per an internal announcement | Sep 2, 2025 |
What do these ten cases show about communications leadership?
These ten cases show that where communications sits is an active decision at large companies, and that companies are deciding it in different directions.
- Microsoft and PepsiCo announced moves that place communications under leaders who also run legal or policy functions. Neither company has stated a shared reason, and Everything-PR does not speculate about motives.
- GM and Cigna gave their communications chiefs marketing responsibility, in November 2025 and early 2026.
- Reporting lines vary. Disney and Cisco state CEO reporting, GM splits it between its CEO and its president, Cigna's leader reports to a chief administrative officer, and UnitedHealth's to an executive vice president.
- Handoffs take months. Walmart announced Park's exit about five months before it takes effect, and Microsoft and Cisco each used interim leaders.
- Talent moves between large companies. Cisco hired Clayton from Microsoft, which then announced Shaw's exit.
For readers hiring a communications leader or judging an executive's reach, a communications title alone says little about authority, responsibilities or access to the CEO. The reporting line and the full remit matter more. Five steps show how far any communications leader's role reaches:
- Find a dated announcement or trade report for the appointment.
- Match the title against the company's current leadership page.
- Identify whom the role reports to, such as the CEO, a general counsel or a chief administrative officer.
- Check whether marketing, legal or policy sits inside the remit.
- Separate the announcement date from the effective date.
Readers following these executives can browse the PR leaders directory, and those mapping career paths into these roles can start at the PR careers hub. For how companies time and word top-level leadership announcements, see the CEO succession communications playbook.
What do existing studies say about CCO reporting lines?
Existing studies measure how common these arrangements are, which this case list does not attempt.
- Korn Ferry's 2025 survey of Fortune 500 chief communications officers drew responses from 78 companies, and 47% of those CCOs reported to the CEO, up from 40% in 2023, according to Ragan's summary of the findings and Korn Ferry's published survey.
- The Observatory on Corporate Reputation's 2024 study of the Fortune 1000 found that CCO-plus titles, meaning a chief communications title combined with another function such as marketing, human resources or corporate affairs, grew about 88% from 2019 to 2024, according to Axios coverage of the study.
Korn Ferry's figures come from survey responses, while the Observatory counted titles across the Fortune 1000, so the two should not be compared directly. The ten cases here add dated, company-level detail. More studies are in the Everything-PR research hub.
How were these changes chosen and verified?
The ten changes were selected because each was publicly reported and could be matched to dated sources, so they are not a random sample or a Fortune 500 audit and support no percentages.
The window runs from September 2025 to October 24, 2026. Each case rests on at least one dated company announcement or trade report. Titles and reporting lines appear as the sources state them. Everything-PR opened the company pages for Disney, Cisco, Cigna, GM and Takeda on October 24, 2026, and the other cases rest on the dated reports linked above.
Sources and corrections
Everything-PR compiled this page on October 24, 2026 from the sources linked in each section, and readers should confirm any role against the company's current announcements. Send corrections through the Everything-PR contact page, and see the corrections policy for how errors are handled.
