Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reports that ex-CEO and Chief Financial Officer Thomas Seifert is leaving the beleaguered company to pursue other opportunities. The announcement drove the share price down 12 percent in above-average trading volume of the stock. Seifert is departing to locate a permanent CEO position elsewhere according to sources familiar with the matter.
“Thomas leaving is a big deal. He was pretty well-liked by investors. He was viewed as the rock throughout all the changes,” said investment firm Evercore Partners analyst Patrick Wang. AMD said in a statement that Seifert’s departure “is not based on any disagreement over the company’s accounting principles or practices, or financial statement disclosures.”
Seifert joined AMD in 2009 and served as CEO for a time after Dirk Meyer was forced to leave the company by AMD’s board of directors. Senior Vice President Devinder Kumar will serve as interim chief financial officer.
