By Simon Bloch
Less than 30% of Fortune 500 companies’ top executives have at least one profile on social networks. The vast majority have none. According to a report released by CEO.com, only “25.8% are on LinkedIn, 7.6% are on Facebook, only 1.8% actually use Twitter, and 70% have no social media presence …at all.” Why does it matter? Executives who pick up the pace in their social media efforts will be better equipped to successfully grow their companies!”. They are beginning to recognize that using email and phone to get the message out isn’t sufficient anymore. To read more about social media for business, click here. And, let me know: Do you tweet, pin, and like? Does it help your business?
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Executive Appointments, Leaves and Compensation Changes
Board Appointments and Leaves
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Executive Appointments, Leaves and Compensation Changes
Accuray announced that Euan Thomson has resigned as President and CEO. Accuray’s board has appointed Joshua Levine as his successor. Thomson is anticipated to continue in a consulting role. Levine, age 54, was CEO of Mentor Corporation and CEO of Immucor Corporation when it was acquired by TPG Capital in 2011. Levine will be paid an annual base salary of $625,000 and an annual performance bonus with the target amount at 120%.
Align Technology announced that it has hired Jennifer Erfurth as VP of global HR. Ms. Erfurth will report directly to Thomas Prescott, Align president and CEO, and will assume immediate responsibility from Len Hedge, SVP of business operations. As previously announced, Mr. Hedge will retire in early 2013. Prior to joining Align, Ms. Erfurth was SVP of shared services at Dyno Nobel. Prior to Dyno Nobel, she was with Federal Signal Corporation and Schawk.
Apple’s Tim Cook announced several management changes. John Browett, head of retail, and Scott Forstall, head of mobile software, will be leaving the company early next year. Bob Mansfield, who has announced his retirement as SVP of Hardware has agreed to stay at Apple for a few more years through 2014. Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of wireless teams across the company.
Atmel announced that Walter Lifsey, EVP & COO, announced his intention to retire. The company appointed Shahin Sharifzadeh to serve as SVP of Worldwide Operations. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Sharifzadeh worked for Cypress Semiconductor from 1989 until 2012, most recently serving as EVP of Worldwide Manufacturing and Operations; President, China operations.
Brocade announced the appointment of David Meyer to the position of CTO and chief scientist. Meyer will report to Ken Cheng, VP and GM of the Routing, Application Delivery and Software Networking Group.
Cisco Systems appointed Robert Lloyd as President, Development and Sales and Gary Moore as President and COO. Moore, 63, who joined Cisco in 2001, will remain chief operating officer. Lloyd, 56, hired by Cisco in 1994, will continue to oversee sales while adding engineering. Both had been executive vice presidents prior to the appointment and both are among the top candidates being considered as successors to John Chambers.
Coherent established performance metrics for fiscal year 2013 bonus plan. The performance metrics are based upon achieving semi-annual EBITDA dollar targets. The amount each participant may receive can vary between 0% and 200% of the targeted amount.
Epocrates appointed Andrew Hurd, the company’s President and CEO, as interim CFO. Hurd has served as the company’s President and CEO since March of this year and will continue in this role.
Facebook’s key executives are leaving. Cipora Herman, formerly VP of Finance at Facebook is leaving for the San Francisco 49ers as a CFO. Joanna Shields, head of social media group operations in Europe, is leaving to join a British government-sponsored venture. Ali Steinberg, who opened Facebook’s first remote engineering office and built Facebook Messenger for Windows will be leaving. He now plans to found a travel start up. Joe Lockhart, Facebook’s head of global communications and a former press secretary for President Bill Clinton, is leaving.
Fortinet appointed Nancy Bush, age 51, as interim CFO. Ms. Bush had served as the VP Worldwide Corporate Controller since December 2011. In connection with her appointment, Ms. Bush will receive an increase in her annual base salary to $260,000.
Google’s key executives are leaving. Russ Laraway, having spent seven years with the company and most recently as VP of Merchant Sales for FreeMonee Network, has joined Twitter as Director of Agency Business Development. Twitter has snatched up Matthew Derrella, a former Google business development director that will head up ad agency partner relations, working under global revenue president Adam Bain. Senior sales executive Henrique de Castro is leaving for Yahoo! as COO. Google has chosen its Asia-Pac/worldwide mobile head Daniel Alegre to replace de Castro as the chief of its Partner Business Solutions group which oversees advertising sales relationships with partners.
InvenSense announced that Steven Nasiri, company Founder, CEO and Chairman will be stepping down. Mr. Nasiri founded the company in 2003 and has served as its CEO and Chairman the entire time. Behrooz Abdi has been appointed as CEO and President. Mr. Abdi has served on InvenSense`s Board since 2011 and has worked extensively with the Board and the Company for the past 15 months. Prior to accepting the CEO role, Mr. Abdi was an EVP & GM for NetLogic Microsystems. Mr. Abdi served as the President and CEO of RMI Corporation (also known as Raza Microelectronics Inc.). He held leadership positions at Qualcomm and Motorola. He currently is a director at Tabula and Exar Corporation. Mr. Abdi will receive an annual base salary of $400,000 per year and will earn an annual performance bonus of $100,000.
JDS Uniphase approved increases in the annual base salaries for the named executive officers. Alan Lowe, EVP and President, Communications and Commercial Optical Products, $540,000; David Heard, EVP and President, Communications Test & Measurement, $450,000; and Roy Bie, SVP, Transition Services, $350,000.
Juniper Networks announced the appointment of Rami Rahim as EVP of the Platform Systems Division. Rahim is a 15-year veteran of the company. Rahim will succeed Stefan Dyckerhoff who will be transitioning to a new consulting role supporting CEO Kevin Johnson. Dyckerhoff will be fulfilling a personal aspiration to become a venture capitalist.
Mattson Technology appointed Michael Dodson as COO in addition to his existing duties as CFO. Dodson will continue to report to the president and CEO, David Dutton. Dodson’s new role encompasses executive oversight of manufacturing operations, finance, administration and corporate marketing.
Meru Networks announced that Carl Gustin informed the company of his determination to resign as CMO. Meru and Mr. Gustin are discussing the terms of a severance agreement which will provide for the payment of 7 months’ salary continuation at his current base salary rate of $265,000 per annum.
NeoPhotonics approved the promotion of James Fay from the position of VP and CFO to SVP and CFO; the promotion of Dr. Wupen Yuen from the position of VP of Product Development and Engineering to SVP of Product and Technology Development; and the promotion of Dr. Raymond Cheung from the position of VP and COO to SVP and COO. The company also approved increased 2012 base salaries for Timothy Jenks, President and CEO from $337,920 to $360,000, James Fay, SVP and CFO from $291,840 to $300,000, Dr. Raymond Cheung, SVP and COO from $299,605 to $330,974 and Dr. Wupen Yuen, SVP of Product and Technology Development from $240,000 to $260,000.
NetApp announced that Jonathan Kissane has joined as chief strategy officer and SVP, and Jay Kidd has been appointed CTO and SVP. Kissane will report directly to Tom Georgens, president and CEO. Kissane joins NetApp from CA Technologies where he was SVP, Corporate Development. Kidd will report to Manish Goel, EVP, Product Operations. Prior to his appointment as CTO, Kidd led product strategy and development for NetApp’s data management and management products. Before joining NetApp, Kidd was CTO and VP of product management at Brocade.
OCZ Technology Group reported that it appointed Ralph Schmitt as president and CEO. Ralph Schmitt, 51, has been a member of the company’s board of directors since 2011. Mr. Schmitt joins OCZ from PLX Technologies, where he served as president and CEO from 2008. Prior to his tenure at PLX, he acted as CEO of Legend Silicon and was CEO of Sipex that merged with Exar in 2007, where he was appointed CEO. From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Schmitt was EVP for Cypress Semiconductor. Mr. Schmitt’s initial annual base salary will be $475,000. His target bonus is $475,000. The company entered into a separation agreement with Ryan Petersen, former CEO. Mr. Petersen has agreed to serve on a Technology Advisory Committee when established by OCZ.
PLX Technology announced that it appointed David Raun, age 48, interim president and CEO, following the acceptance of the resignation of Ralph Schmitt as president and CEO. Prior to Mr. Raun’s appointment, he served as EVP & GM of Product Lines. Prior to that, he was VP, Marketing and Business Development since 2007, having served as VP Marketing since 2004. Prior to PLX Technology, Mr. Raun was VP of Marketing at Pericom Semiconductor and EVP & GM at Actovate, VP at Waferscale Integration. Schmitt will stay on the PLX Board of Directors.
SanDisk reported a number of management changes. James Brelsford announced his resignation, as Chief Legal Officer, SVP of IP Licensing, and Corporate Secretary. The company appointed Thomas Rampone as SVP of the company’s solid state drive business. He will report to Sanjay Mehrotra, SanDisk’s president and CEO. Rampone joined SanDisk from Intel where he served for over 27 years in various engineering and executive roles. The company announced that it has appointed Drew Henry as SVP, OEM Marketing. Henry will will report to Dan Inbar, SVP and GM of SanDisk’s OEM group. Henry joined from NVIDIA where he served in various executive roles, most recently as the general manager of the GeForce GPU business.
Sanmina-SCI announces that David Pulatie retired from his position as EVP of Global HR. Mr. Pulatie will continue working for the company in an advisory capacity the end of the year. Mr. Pulatie is being succeeded by Alan Reid, who has been employed by the company since 2001 in various senior human resources roles, mostly recently as SVP, Global Human Resources.
ServiceSource International announced that Jeffrey Bizzack will become Vice Chairman. Mr. Bizzack will leave his position as President of the company. The company and Mr. Bizzack entered into a Separation and Consulting Agreement detailing the terms of Mr. Bizzack’s transition and services.
Silicon Image announced that Eric Almgren resigned from his position as Vice President, IP Business Group.
Symantec Corp said its worldwide head of sales, William Robbins, was leaving the company. The company had no immediate plans to fill Robbins’ position.
Tessera Technologies approved certain compensation changes for Robert Young, President and CEO. Pursuant to new terms, Dr. Young will receive a base salary of $684,000 per year and will be eligible to receive an annual bonus at a target level equal to 100% of such base salary. Dr. Young will also receive $150,000 per year to offset expenses related to time spent in California and travel to California from Dr. Young’s residence in Connecticut.
Thoratec Corporation announced appointment of Taylor Harris as VP and CFO. Mr. Harris, age 36, has been the company’s Senior Director of Investor Relations & Business Development since 2010. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Harris worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he was a VP in the Equity Research. The company increased Mr. Harris’s annual base salary to $275,000. Mr. Harris will also be eligible to receive an annual incentive bonus with a target payout equal to 50% of his base salary.
TIBCO Software announced that Raj Verma has been appointed SVP, North American Infrastructure Sales. Mr. Verma currently serves as CMO and has been with TIBCO since 2004, when he joined through the acquisition of Staffware plc. Mr. Verma will report to Murat Sonmez, EVP of Global Field Operations. Matt Langdon, SVP, will now oversee Marketing as part of an expanded Strategic Operations group.
Unwired Planet approved a stipend of $10,000 per month for Michael Mulica, the CEO, to cover travel and commuting expenses incurred by Mr. Mulica.
VMware announced the appointment of Jonathan Chadwick as CFO and EVP. Mr. Chadwick, age 46, has most recently been CFO of Skype. Mr. Chadwick joined Skype from McAfee, where he was the EVP and CFO. Mr. Chadwick held various finance roles at Cisco Systems. Mr. Chadwick currently serves on the board of F5 Networks. Mr. Chadwick will be paid an annual base salary of $625,000 and be eligible to earn a performance-based cash bonus with an annual target of 100% of his base salary. Mr. Chadwick will also be paid a one-time bonus of up to $200,000, depending upon transition costs he incurs, which is earned at the completion of Mr. Chadwick’s first year of employment.
Yahoo! announced several management changes. It named Henrique de Castro, 47, as COO, reporting directly to Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. He was granted a pay package worth as much as $61.6 million over four years, including as much as $20 million in restricted stock units to compensate him for leaving Google, where he has worked since 2006. Yahoo! has hired James Loftus, Google’s senior corporate counsel, to work on deals. Yahoo! Chief Revenue Officer Michael Barrett will be leaving the company. Yahoo! reported that Mr. Timothy Morse, CFO, would be leaving the company, and would be succeeded as CFO by Kenneth Goldman. Yahoo’s David Hantman, who has been its deputy general counsel and VP of global public policy, is taking a similar job at start-up Airbnb. Yahoo’s CTO Ash Munshi quietly left the company earlier this summer, prior to Marissa Mayer’s appointment as CEO.
Zynga’s Laurence “Lo” Toney, who had been a general manager of the game “Zynga Poker” and worked on strategy for the company’s Casino efforts, is leaving.
Board Appointments and Leaves
Advent Software announced the appointment of Robert Tarkoff to the Board of Directors.
Dolby Laboratories’ Ted Hall notified the company that he would not stand for re-election to the Board at the next annual meeting.
eBay notified that Dawn Lepore would resign from the company’s Board. Lepore is a former CIO at Charles Schwab Corp. and CEO of Drugstore.com
Exar Corporation announced the appointment of Behrooz Abdi to its board of directors. Mr. Abdi is currently providing executive leadership and funding consulting to various early stage companies. He currently serves as a director at Tabula, a privately held company, and InvenSense, a public company. Most recently, Mr. Abdi was EVP and GM at NetLogic Microsystems and was President and CEO of RMI Corporation.
Extreme Networks announced that Edward Terino was elected as a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Terino, 59, has served as President of GET Advisory Services, a strategic and financial management consulting firm. Mr. Terino brings over 30 years of financial management, operations, and technology experience.
Keynote Systems appointed Mark Jung to its board of directors. Currently an operating partner at Khosla Ventures, Mark brings over 20 years of successful Internet and mobile CEO and entrepreneur experience. Prior to Khosla Ventures, Mr. Jung served as COO of Fox Interactive Media where he was responsible for its Internet business.
Monolithic Power Systems appointed Eugene Elmiger to the Board. Mr. Elmiger is currently serving as the CEO at Maxon group headquartered in Switzerland.
NeoPhotonics announced the appointment of Mr. Charles Abbe to the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Abbe served as president, COO and director of JDS Uniphase Corporation until his retirement in June 2001.
OpenTable elected Robert Hohman to serve as a director of the company. Mr. Hohman is a co-founder of Glassdoor and has served as its CEO since 2007. Mr. Hohman served as the President of Hotwire, as President of Classic Custom Vacation at Expedia, and as SVP of Cruise and Package at Expedia.
Ubiquiti Networks announced that Ron Sege, Chairman and CEO of Echelon Corporation has joined the company’s board of directors. Mr. Sege served as President, COO and Board member of 3Com Corporation through its acquisition by HP. Prior to 3Com, Mr. Sege was President and CEO of Tropos Networks and President and CEO of Ellacoya Networks.
Unwired Planet announced that Mark Jensen was appointed to the company’s board of directors. Mr. Jensen was most previously a Managing Partner at Deloitte until his retirement from the firm in 2012. Prior to joining Deloitte as a partner in 2001, Mr. Jensen was briefly the CFO for Redleaf Group and prior to that, a partner with Arthur Andersen.
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