Finisar Co-Founder Jerry Rawls retires
Company appoints of Broadcom's Michael Hurlston as CEO
Finisar, a maker of optical subsystems and components for fibre optic communications, has announced the retirement of chairman and CEO Jerry Rawls and the appointment of Michael Hurlston as CEO.
Hurlston and Rawls will work together to ensure a smooth transition. Rawls will continue to serve as a director of the company. The company's lead director Robert Stephens has been appointed chairman of the board.
"After a thorough and thoughtful search process, we are pleased to welcome Michael Hurlston to Finisar as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors," said Robert Stephens, Finisar's chairman of the board of Directors. "Michael has broad experience as a highly-successful technology industry executive and we know Michael is the right leader to build on our success and market-leading position."
"Under Jerry's leadership, Finisar has grown from its founding in Quonset hut in Menlo Park, California to a world-leading optics company with cutting-edge products and approximately $1.4 billion in revenues in its most recently completed fiscal year. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his innumerable contributions to Finisar's growth and success to-date and are confident that he has positioned the Company solidly for the great opportunities in our industry today."
Rawls said: "Michael's experience, proven technical skills, and leadership abilities will serve Finisar, our customers, employees, and stockholders very well. At Finisar, we have built a great company with fantastic employees dedicated to serving our customers' needs and developing world-leading, cutting-edge technology products. I am confident that Michael is the right person to lead us to even greater success."
Michael Hurlston most recently served as a senior VP and general manager of the Mobile Connectivity Products/Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division at Broadcom.
Previously, he held senior leadership positions in sales, marketing and general management at Broadcom. Prior to joining Broadcom in 2001, Hurlston held senior marketing and engineering positions at Oren Semiconductor, Avasem, Integrated Circuit Systems, Micro Power Systems, Exar and IC Works. Hurlston is also a director of Ubiquiti Networks, and a member of the board of advisors of Vilynx.
