Illumina gets two new executives as the San Diego biotech revamps its C-suite – San Diego Union-Tribune
Illumina gets two new executives as the San Diego biotech revamps its C-suite – San Diego Union-Tribune
Author: Natallie Rocha
Published on: 2024-04-10 19:20:05
Source: Technology – San Diego Union-Tribune
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Illumina is getting a new chief financial officer, the latest major leadership change within the past 12 months for the San Diego biotechnology company.
Ankur Dhingra will take over as Illumina’s new chief financial officer starting April 15, the company announced Tuesday. Prior to Illumina, he spent just under two years as the CFO of Summit Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical oncology company in Menlo Park.
Dhingra replaces Joydeep Goswami, who is leaving the local gene sequencing giant after helping lead the company through the unraveling of its $7 billion acquisition of Grail.
Illumina has also appointed Jakob Wedel as its new chief strategy and corporate development officer, a position Goswami also held.
The San Diego biotech company announced the C-suite transitions on Tuesday after markets closed.
Illumina will divest Grail after losing battle with FTC. How did the San Diego biotech’s $7B deal unravel?Goswami, who has served as CFO since February 2023, will stay with the company in an advisory role through June 30. In addition to his annual base salary — which was $600,000 in 2023 — Goswami will also be entitled to a lump sum payment of $360,000 for his advisory role.
He joined Illumina in 2019 as chief strategy and corporate development officer. Goswami became Illumina’s full-time chief financial officer after filling in on an interim basis following the departure of Sam Samad in 2022.
Goswami leaves after being part of the leadership team that navigated the legal challenges and divestiture of Illumina’s tumultuous $7 billion acquisition of Grail. The deal dashed Illumina’s stock value and led discontent investors to oust its longtime CEO, Francis deSouza. The company’s new CEO, Jacob Thaysen, took the reins in September.
“We are grateful to Joydeep for his many contributions to Illumina over more than four years, and for most recently leading these two key functions,” said Thaysen in the announcement. “Joydeep will continue with us for several weeks to support a smooth leadership transition.”
Notably, Illumina’s incoming CFO worked at Agilent Technologies, the same company Thaysen served at before joining the San Diego gene sequencing giant. Dhingra’s career includes 18 years in various finance and business management roles at the Northern California biotech firm.
San Diego has a new CEO in town. Here’s what financial analysts are saying about Illumina’s next leaderDhingra will be paid an annual base salary of $650,000 in addition to stock awards offered to Illumina’s executives. He will also receive a $500,000 cash signing bonus and a one-time grant of equity awards in aggregate of $3,500,000, for foregoing his benefits at his previous company.
Both Dhingra and Wedel will relocate to San Diego. Illumina will provide Dhingra with a fixed monthly cash stipend of $15,000 to help cover travel and relocation expenses through the summer.
“Ankur brings deep financial expertise, investor and leadership experience, and industry knowledge to Illumina’s CFO role, and Jakob has keen insights gained from 25 years in strategy leadership roles with global consulting firms,” Thaysen said in the announcement. “Both are deeply committed to serving our customers and helping Illumina grow.”
Illumina will report its first-quarter 2024 financial results on May 2 at 2 p.m.
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