Verizon names Hans Vestberg as Chairman

Verizon Communications' Board of Directors elected Hans E. Vestberg as chairman, effective March 8, 2019, replacing Lowell C. McAdam, who is retiring.

In addition, the Board elected Clarence Otis, Jr., as lead director, effective March 8, 2019. Otis will succeed M. Frances Keeth, who is retiring from the Board in May in accordance with the Board’s mandatory retirement policy.

Vestberg has been CEO since Aug. 1, 2018, with responsibility for all business operations at Verizon, including the strategic direction of the company. He has served on Verizon’s Board since June 2018.

Verizon appoints Hans Vestberg as next CEO - former boss of Ericsson

Sunday, June 10, 2018  People, Verizon  

Verizon Communications named Hans E. Vestberg to succeed Lowell C. McAdam as CEO, effective August 1, 2018.

Vestberg, 52, is the former CEO of Ericsson and currently serves as Executive Vice President and President of Global Networks and Chief Technology Officer. From 2007 to 2009, Vestberg served as Chief Financial Officer at Ericsson, and he previously served in a number of leadership positions at Ericsson. From 2009 till 2016, Vestberg led Ericsson during a period of significant industry and company transformation. He joined Ericsson in 1991 and earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.

McAdam, 64, has served as CEO of Verizon since 2011 and as chairman since 2012. During his tenure, Verizon took over complete ownership of Verizon Wireless in 2014 through a $130 billion purchase of Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in the company. McAdam also led the acquisitions of major media, fiber and telematics assets, including AOL, Yahoo!, XO Communications and the purchase of millions of miles of optical fiber from Corning. 

Read More

ST to acquire Norstel for silicon carbide (SiC) wafers

STMicroelectronics agreed to acquire a majority stake in Norstel AB, a silicon carbide (SiC) wafer manufacturer. Norstel, headquartered in Norrkoping, Sweden, was founded in 2005 as a spinoff of Linköping University. It develops and manufactures advanced 150mm silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers.
ST said the deal enables it to control the entire supply chain for a portion of its SiC devices at a time of constrained global capacity and positions itself for a significant growth opportunity.

Under the deal ST will acquire 55% of Norstel’s share capital, with an option to acquire the remaining 45% subject to certain conditions, which, if exercised, will result in total consideration of $137.5 million, funded with available cash.

"ST is the only semiconductor company with automotive-grade silicon carbide in mass production today. We want to build on our strong momentum in SiC, both in volume and breadth of applications for industrial and automotive, targeting continued leadership in a market estimated at more than $3 billion in 2025," said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics. "The acquisition of a majority stake in Norstel is another step forward strengthening our silicon carbide ecosystem: it will boost our flexibility, improve yield and quality, and support our long-term silicon carbide roadmap and business."

Read More

Lumentum appoints CFO

Lumentum announced the appointment of Wajid Ali as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), replacing Christopher Coldren who had been serving as the company's Interim Chief Financial Officer since June 2018.

Ali joins Lumentum from Synaptics, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.  Prior to that, he was Vice President and Controller of Teledyne Technologies, after having served as Chief Financial Officer at DALSA Corporation, a public semiconductor company that was acquired by Teledyne in 2011.  He also held key financial management positions at AMD and ATI, overseeing the finance functions for large business groups.

Read More