James Beer

Who is James Beer?

In his role as executive vice president and chief financial officer for

Symantec, James Beer manages Symantec’s worldwide finance organization

with responsibility for accounting, strategic planning and analysis,

treasury, tax, investor relations, and audit. He also leads the

corporate development, facilities, and operations teams. Prior to joining Symantec, Beer was chief financial officer of

AMR Corp. and American Airlines, responsible for financial planning and

analysis, treasury, corporate development, accounting, tax, purchasing,

and investor relations. He also managed American Beacon Advisors Inc.,

a subsidiary of AMR that manages more than $40 billion in assets.

In his 15 years at American, Beer held a variety of

management positions in finance and operations, including leading the

airline’s European and Asia Pacific businesses. He also led, on behalf

of American, the creation of the oneworld alliance,

as well as the majority of American’s other international alliance

relationships. In addition, he was responsible for the negotiation of

multi-billion dollar acquisition transactions and the associated

financing. In his corporate development role, he was responsible for

American’s investments in Orbitz and Worldspan. He also led the effort

to evaluate options for enhancing shareholder value which culminated in

the initial public offering and eventual spin-off of the Sabre Group.

Prior to joining AMR, Beer spent seven years as a

management consultant at Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture,

in Europe and the United States. He holds a bachelor’s of science

degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College, London

University and a master’s degree in business administration from

Harvard Business School.