Barrick Gold: CFO Departure Follows a Record Year and a Planned North American Spin-Off

Barrick Mining CA0679011084

Insider activity at Barrick Gold Corp stood in the spotlight on February 10, when the company?s departing chief financial officer sold a sizable block of stock. Graham Patrick Shuttleworth shed 100,000 Barrick shares at an average price of CAD 64.72, bringing in about CAD 6.47 million. Even after this disposal, Shuttleworth remains a holder of 487,252 shares.

The timing of the sale aligns with Barrick?s earlier disclosure in January that Shuttleworth would be leaving. Helen Cai, already a director since 2021, will take over the finance chief duties on March 1. In context, the move is generally viewed as a cash-out ahead of retirement rather than a signal of waning confidence in Barrick?s operations.

Barrick?s fundamentals provide a backdrop to the insider action. The company finished 2025 with a record free cash flow, and the fourth quarter alone produced USD 1.62 billion in FCF. Returns to shareholders were boosted accordingly, with the quarterly dividend rising substantially to USD 0.42 per share, a 140% increase.

Strategy: Spin-Off of North American Gold Assets

Beyond the near-term results, Barrick is pursuing a strategic rearrangement. The plan calls for an initial public offering of a newly formed, standalone unit focused on the North American gold assets. Management aims to complete the spin-off by the end of 2026, with the intention of making the value of these assets clearer and more directly reflected in shareholder value.

With the leadership transition in finance and the carve-out process underway, Barrick is bracing for what executives anticipate to be a transformative year. Shuttleworth exits at a peak of financial performance, while Cai will shoulder the responsibility of executing the asset separation and related corporate moves.