Academic Degrees
- MS, Accountancy, Kellstadt Gradaute School of Business at DePaul University, 1982
- BS, Accountancy, Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, 1981
Certifications
- Certified Public Accountant, State of Illinois
- Certified Global Management Accountant
Biography
Tom Festle brings more than 30 years of senior management, finance and accounting experience in international businesses to his alma mater DePaul, having rejoined the university in 2022 as a professional lecturer in the School of Accountancy & MIS at the Driehaus College of Business. He spent more than a decade at RWE Renewables, one of the world's leading renewable energy companies, as its US chief financial officer. At RWE Renewables, Festle oversaw the financial aspects of the development, commercialization, financing, operation and portfolio management of its U.S. onshore wind, solar photovoltaic and energy storage businesses.
Festle joined E.ON Climate & Renewables, RWE’s predecessor, as North American chief accounting officer, and was promoted to North American chief financial officer in 2010. With the sale of E.ON’s renewable portfolio to RWE in October 2019, Festle was named CFO – US. During his tenure, RWE commissioned 30 wind, solar and storage facilities, investing $6 billion, raising more than $3 billion in debt financing, and entering into three major operating joint ventures.
Festle began his career at Ernst & Young, McDonald’s Corporation as director of accounting Asia-Pacific, and RR Donnelley & Sons as vice president of finance – audit. Festle returned to Ernst & Young as a partner in its M&A Transaction Advisory Services group, working with private equity and strategic corporate buy-side investors. He became chief financial officer of The Seaton Companies, executing the 2006 transaction that brought the midsized services firm into private equity ownership.
Festle is a licensed CPA and was recognized with the Elijah Watt Sells Award for Top 100 achievers nationwide in May 1981. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from DePaul University, Chicago. Festle has also taught as an adjunct professor at Carthage College, and has served as a frequent speaker and panelist at renewable energy conferences.