Illumina, Inc. today announced that Jay Flatley, current Chairman and CEO, will assume the role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors on July 5, 2016. Francis deSouza, currently President, will be appointed President and Chief Executive Officer on the same date and will continue to serve on the Illumina Board of Directors.
Jay joined Illumina in 1999 as President and CEO. He has grown the company from $500K in annual revenue to over $2.2 billion in 2015, both organically and through pivotal acquisitions that transformed Illumina into the leading global provider of next-generation sequencing solutions.
Blaine Bowman, Illumina’s Lead Independent Director, stated, “The Board would like to thank Jay for his dedication to the company as CEO for the last 17 years. He deserves incredible recognition for what he has accomplished in the role, and we are very pleased that he will continue to actively serve the company as Executive Chairman.”
“The time is right for Francis to become Illumina’s next President and CEO,” stated Jay Flatley, Chairman and CEO. “Francis is an exceptional leader, with a demonstrated track record of leading large organizations and implementing complex growth strategies. I look forward to partnering with him in his new role to continue the company’s strong legacy of innovation and execution.”
Francis joined Illumina in 2013 as President, working closely with Jay, the Board of Directors and the management team in setting the company’s strategic direction and leading the product development, commercial and manufacturing organizations. He has significantly influenced the performance of the company, been instrumental in Illumina’s evolution into the clinical markets and successfully executed on multiple major initiatives, including launching the HiSeq 4000 and the recent introduction of MiniSeq. As President and CEO he will assume additional leadership responsibility for the G&A and Research organizations, headed by Marc Stapley and Mostafa Ronaghi respectively.
“I joined Illumina because I believe in the enormous potential of our mission to improve human health by unlocking the power of the genome,” commented Francis deSouza, President. “Today, having witnessed the impact our technology has on patients’ lives, and having experienced the passion and dedication of our employees, I could not be more honored, or more confident in our future.”
Blaine Bowman further added, “We unanimously approved the appointment of Francis as President and CEO, and wholeheartedly believe that in their new roles the combination of Jay and Francis will provide the management structure needed to further scale Illumina to address the large, growing genomics market and continue to deliver shareholder value.”
Source: Illumina
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