Finisar co-founder & CEO Jerry Rawls to retire

Fiber-optic communications component and subsystem maker Finisar Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA says that chairman & CEO Jerry Rawls has informed its board of directors that he intends to retire as CEO by the end of 2018. The board will conduct a search to identify a successor and will consider internal and external candidates.

“Jerry’s decision to retire as CEO of Finisar caps a remarkable business career and chapter in the company’s history,” comments lead director Robert Stephens. “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 $1.4bn 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,” he adds.

“Finisar is a strong company with fantastic employees dedicated to serving our customers’ needs and developing world-leading, cutting-edge technology products,” comments Rawls. “I am confident that Finisar will continue on its successful path.”