Western Digital (WD) announced that Steve Milligan will become CEO of the company on January 2, 2013, succeeding John Coyne, who is retiring on that same date. Milligan, 49, is currently president of Western Digital and will retain the title of president when he becomes CEO. Following Coyne's retirement, Milligan will be appointed to the Western Digital board of directors.
Western Digital (WD) announced that Steve Milligan will become CEO of the company on January 2, 2013, succeeding John Coyne, who is retiring on that same date. Milligan, 49, is currently President of WD and will retain the title of President when he becomes CEO. Following Coyne's retirement, Milligan will be appointed to the board of directors.
Coyne, 63, has served as CEO of WD since January 2007 and spent the vast majority of a distinguished career in the electronics industry with WD, joining the company in 1983. Under his leadership, WD became the world's largest maker of hard drives, through a relentless focus on the quality and reliability of its products, product portfolio expansion to capture evolving market trends, efficiency in its manufacturing operations and asset management, and excellence in its customer and supply chain relationships. In the last six years, WD has grown its revenue threefold, been consistently profitable, generated significant cash and completed several successful strategic transactions including the recent acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST), formerly the hard drive division of Hitachi.
Milligan rejoined WD earlier this year as President as a result of the HGST acquisition. He had served as HGST's President from March 2009 to December 2009 and as its President and CEO from December 2009 until WD's acquisition of HGST in March 2012. From 2007 to 2009, he served as HGST's CFO. From 2004 to 2007, Milligan served as CFO of WD. Previously, he held a variety of financial and accounting roles at Dell and Price Waterhouse.
Under his leadership, HGST initiated a significant transformation of its business to focus on market-driven leadership, sustainable growth, operational excellence, and financial discipline. These initiatives helped HGST significantly improve its operational performance and achieve consistent profitability prior to its acquisition by WD.