Stephen D. Milligan, CEO and President, Western Digital
Mr Olivier Leonetti
IRVINE, Calif.: Western Digital Corp. has appointed Olivier Leonetti as its new chief financial officer to replace Tim Leyden, 62, who is retiring after 24 years of distinguished service to the company.
Vigilance learnt Mr Leyden's successor Mr Olivier Leonetti, 50, had served as vice president, finance at Amgen Inc. from 2011, after spending 14 years in global finance leadership positions at Dell Inc.
However, Leyden will remain with the company through January 2015 in a transition role and advisory capacity to president and chief executive officer Steve Milligan and to Leonetti for an interim period to ensure a smooth transition. The changes are effective as of September 8, 2014.
“On behalf of the board of directors and all Western Digital employees, I express my deep gratitude to Tim Leyden for his more than two decades of dedicated service and leadership,” said Milligan. “Tim’s integrity, work ethic and sound judgment leave an indelible mark on our company. In all of his roles, he has helped make a great company even stronger and more broad-based. We wish him the very best in his retirement."
Mr Milligan added: “We are very fortunate to attract Olivier Leonetti as our new CFO at this exciting time in the evolution of our company,” said Milligan. “Olivier is a capable and well-rounded finance leader with broad global experience. He is a valuable addition to our executive team.”
It was gathered Leyden first served Western Digital from 1983 to 2000, before rejoining the company in 2007 as executive vice president, finance. He subsequently served as executive vice president and CFO and as chief operating officer of Western Digital Corp. and president of the company’s WD subsidiary, before reassuming the CFO role at Western Digital Corp. in November 2013.
In his earlier career at Western Digital, Leyden served in various capacities in the company’s storage controller, semiconductor and hard drive businesses, both in his native Ireland and in the U.S.
Leyden received his ACMA (Associate Chartered Management Accountant) certification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Chapter Street, London. He holds a master's degree of business administration from University of California, Irvine.
The new CFO Leonetti whilst at Amgen managed the finance organization of the company’s global commercial organization, which posted revenues of $19 billion in 2013, and he played a leadership role in defining and implementing the product development and commercial strategies of the Amgen organization worldwide.
At Dell, Mr Leonetti was vice president, finance of the worldwide consumer division and vice president, finance of the worldwide Dell.com business.