Fede Barreto

I left Venezuela shortly after turning 16 years old, having been awarded a five-year academic scholarship which allowed me to study in the United States. The Galileo scholarship was granted by the Venezuelan government from 1990 to 1994 to about 400 high school students based on academic merit.

After graduating from college, I started my career in finance as a Financial Analyst at the subsidiary of a large pharmaceutical company in Caracas, ending up back in the United States two years later.
I grew up professionally in such industry, spending 15 years between Schering-Plough (now Merck) and Warner Lambert (now Pfizer). Prior to joining Plymouth, I was the CFO at Getronics and before that, for nine years, I was the CFO/EVP at Sony DADC Americas, a division of Sony Corporation. It is worth to mention that I lived in São Paulo Brazil while working with Schering, an experience that defined my approach to being a CFO and through which I learned to speak Portuguese.

When I joined Plymouth in the fall of 2019 after over 25 years of finance and accounting experience, I felt (and still feel to this day) that I finally landed the best job I’ve ever had. Since joining, I have been able to put into play my experience in leading large and small organizations while learning a great deal about family-owned companies in an industry in which I had not prior experience.

I believe I’ve been able to make a significant difference these last two and a half years: helping the company navigate through utmost treacherous waters, helping improve the finance function and lead an amazing team, and leading our expansion into Germany, at first running the transaction and now running the operations.

I like to lead by seeking and achieving a thorough understanding of the business in which I operate and by fostering partnerships to improve financial outcomes: I feel I have been able to do this at Plymouth Tube Company.

My career progression and life have been defined by adaptability- across roles, industries, and geographies. I also hold integrity, credibility, and trustworthiness as fundamental building blocks throughout my life. I believe in philanthropy, diversity, and education, and as such I’ve founded employee resource groups, and I been involved in non-profits serving as board member, most recently founding – along with some good friends and fellow Galileo Scholars, an education-driven organization (www.galileovision.org).

For fun, I run long distance and make music. I have been married for 25 years and I am the father of two wonderful sons who attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.