Entergy chairman and CEO to retire; successor as CEO chosen

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The chairman and CEO of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., one of two Louisiana companies in the Fortune 500, will retire next year, and his successor has been chosen, the company announced Wednesday.

Leo Denault, 62, will retire as the utility’s CEO this year and as board chairman next year, a news release said. The board of directors has elected Chief Financial Officer Andrew Marsh, 50, to become CEO on Nov. 1.

Denault has been with the company for 23 years and has been CEO since 2013. He will remain executive chairman of the board “for a transition period not to extend beyond May 2023, or sooner as determined by the Entergy board of directors,” spokesman Neal Kirby said in an email.

Kimberly Fontan will succeed Marsh as executive vice president and chief financial officer. She has been senior vice president and chief accounting officer since 2019.

Entergy is No. 321 on this year’s Fortune 500, with $11.7 billion in revenues and $1.1 billion in profits, according to the magazine’s website. Lumen Technologies, a telecommunications company based in Monroe, is No. 179 with $19.7 billion in revenues and $2 billion in profits.

The utility provides power to 3 million customers through operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.