Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart has resigned as CEO and president of Infineon Technologies.
Ziebart has recently found himself at odds with other members of the management board about the future direct of the German semiconductor company.
In a statement yesterday Infineon announced that, with effect of June 1, Ziebart was resigning due to “different opinions on the future strategic orientation of the company”.
See more on the David Manners blog.
Last week the German press was awash with rumours that Ziebart would resign at the end of the month
Reports suggested that the supervisory board was unhappy about the company's financials, and particularly its share price.
Infineon's financial performance and share price has been impaired by its 77 per cent ownership of DRAM manufacturer, Qimonda, which is separately listed on the New York stock exchange. Last month Infineon wrote down the book valuation of its shares in Qimonda by one billion euros.
Ziebart was instrumental in separating the memory business in to Qimonda, which was listed at the NYSE in August 2006. And last year, Infineon got back into the top ten semiconductor companies.
The Board thanked Ziebart for his efforts. “He took over the position as CEO four years ago in an extremely difficult situation,” said chairman Max Dietrich Kley.
There have also been rumours that Kley has been talking to NXP and Freescale about a possible merger, but that the management board are opposed to both proposed mergers.
Board member Peter Bauer takes over as head of the management board.