Ron Tutor, the longtime chairman and CEO of heavy civil construction giant Tutor Perini, will step down from his current role in 2025, the company announced, and continue as executive chairman of the firm’s board.
Gary Smalley, the Los Angeles-based firm’s current CFO, will succeed Tutor in the CEO position. The firm’s board appointed Smalley president effective Nov. 15.
Tutor Perini made the announcement via a news release and Securities and Exchange Commissioning filing Thursday, a week after reporting its third quarter earnings.
Tutor, 83, has been the company's chairman and CEO since 2008, when the firm’s two successor companies, Tutor-Saliba and Perini, merged. Along the way, he has employed a blunt executive style on the firm’s earnings calls, including last week, when he urged investors to stand by Tutor Perini despite its ongoing legal disputes.
“Stay patient,” he said at the end of the call. “We’re getting there.”
He’s also provided a splash of Hollywood glamor in the often rough-and-tumble world of heavy civil construction. In 2010, Tutor led a group of investors that purchased Miramax Films from the Walt Disney Co. for $663 million. Soon after, he held a lavish party on his 194-foot yacht, Pegasus, at the Cannes Film Festival. Guests reportedly included actors Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Rob Lowe. Tutor sold his Miramax stake three years later.
Of Smalley’s appointment, Tutor said, “Gary is a proven leader who has provided valuable insights and demonstrated consistently sound judgment and first-rate executive management skills over his eight years with the company.”
“I am confident that Gary is the right person to lead Tutor Perini into the future, and I look forward to continuing to work with him and effecting a smooth leadership transition over the coming year,” Tutor said.
In addition to the succession announcement, previously disclosed in Tutor’s employment contract via a filing with the SEC at the beginning of 2021, Tutor Perini also appointed Ryan Soroka, the firm’s chief accounting officer, as senior vice president and CFO. He will succeed Smalley in that role.
The company is currently searching for a new chief accounting officer. Soroka will continue in that role as well until a replacement is named, according to the release.
