Seagate CEO Watkins replaced by Luczo
Seagate, the computer storage manufacturers, have had a pretty rough December and due to that are now facing a cut in employees. So it doesn’t really come as much surprise that the CEO of the company is being replaced and the chairman of the company is being rushed in to replace him.
The now former CEO of the company, Bill Watkins, was in the position since 2004, yet has been pushed aside by the company who have placed the slightly younger Stephen Luczo in his place. Luczo has been the chairman of the company since 2002 and is said to be staying in the role as well as taking his place as the CEO.
Watkins did some good things with Seagate in his time as CEO. When he took over, Seagate’s shares were priced at close to $12, however over Watkins’ time as CEO, Seagate’s shares reached up to $28.60 in November 2007. Unfortunately for Watkins, it seems as though he may have lost his edge and 2008 was not such a good year for either him or Seagate as the company’s share prices plummeted and today they are around $5.51.
Luczo said in a statement that Seagate had to thank Watkins for all he has done for the company, saying, “I want to take this opportunity to thank Bill Watkins for his commitment to Seagate. Since first joining Seagate more than 12 years ago, Bill has made many significant contributions to our Company through his dedication, knowledge and leadership.”
The board’s lead director, Lydia M. Marshall, voiced her opinion about the move by the company to place Luczo in the position of CEO, announcing how he was the person that the company needed. “Steve’s significant understanding of Seagate’s business and technology, and the customer and employee relationships that he built over his 15-year career at Seagate make Steve the ideal person to lead our company at this time,” she said.
The move by Seagate comes at an interesting time as the company has recently announced that they would be planning to get rid of 10 per cent of its United States workforce. It seems as though they are starting the New Year with a bit of spring cleaning. Seagate seems to be struggling, as many other businesses are around the world, with the current economic downturn.
It is clear that Watkins is being blamed for the company’s misfortunes over the last year or so, in particular for December’s revenue figures, which dropped badly claimed Watkins. In fact, Watkins was being heard claiming that the last quarter was “terrible” for the company.
The president of Seagate’s consumer division, Brian Dexheimer, said in an interview recently that the hard disk drive sector had been feeling the pressure of the economic downturn, and Seagate was among those feeling that pressure. Dexheimer claimed, “We are preparing for a pretty tough environment here over the next 12 months.” This is now becoming clear and it seems that Seagate is readying for the storm
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