Optical components developer Finisar has announced that chairman and chief executive officer Jerry Rawls has informed the board of directors that he intends to retire as CEO of the company by the end of calendar year 2018.
The board of directors will conduct a search to identify Mr. Rawls' successor and will consider internal and external candidates for the job.
“Jerry's decision to retire as CEO of Finisar caps a remarkable business career and chapter in the company's history,” said Robert Stephens, Finisar's lead director. “We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his innumerable contributions to Finisar's growth and success.
“Jerry co-founded the company nearly 30 years ago in a Quonset hut in Menlo Park, California. Under Jerry's leadership, Finisar went public in 1999 and has grown to be one of the world's top optics companies, with industry-leading revenues of more than $1.4 billion during its most recent fiscal year. While his leadership will be missed, Jerry has placed Finisar on solid ground to continue to build on its success and market-leading position.”
“I'd like to thank everyone at Finisar for helping build the company into the great company it is today,” commented Jerry Rawls. “Finisar is a strong company with fantastic employees dedicated to serving our customers' needs and developing world-leading, cutting edge technology products. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and I am confident that Finisar will continue on its successful path.”
For fiscal 2017, which ended on 30 April, Finisar reported revenues of $1.449 billion, an all-time record for the company and an increase of $186.1million, or 14.7 per cent, over fiscal 2016.
