January 12th, 2009
Seagate names Luczo CEO; Watkins out
Seagate Technology said Monday that Stephen Luczo will replace Bill Watkins as CEO.
Luczo is currently Seagate’s chairman and will remain so as he takes over for Watkins (right). Watkins, who has been with Seagate for 12 years, will stick around for an orderly transition. In a statement, Seagate said Luczo and Watkins will huddle to “determine what role, if any, Watkins will have at the company going forward.”
The swap is a little back to the future for Seagate. Luczo was CEO of Seagate Technology from 1998 to 2004. In that time, Seagate went private just as the dot-com bust was accelerating, revamped and went public again.
In recent years, Seagate has fallen behind on the product cycle and Luczo said the company is “regaining our longstanding product leadership position across all markets.” Luczo is taking over at an interesting time since Seagate has to navigate an economic downturn in a business that notoriously cyclical. According to various reports, Watkins said at CES that December was terrible for the company and layoffs are likely (Techmeme).
Here’s a look at Seagate’s five-year chart.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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