AMD Loses CFO Thomas Seifert, Share Prices Drop 11.72%

It’s almost like people don’t like being in charge of tech companies anymore; joining OCZ’s (former) CEO Ryan Peterson and NVIDIA’s (former) GM of mobile business Mike Rayfield, AMD’s CFO Thomas Seifert is leaving the chipmaker “to pursue other opportunities” that likely include a permanent CEO position.

Seifert had been pulling double duty as the company’s CFO and temporary CEO, keeping the seat warm for a few months until the company could replace outgoing CEO Dirk Meyer. AMD had excused Meyer after only 18 months on the job, making Seifert the third guy to take the reigns at AMD in an uncomfortably short amount of time. Eventually, AMD tapped Rory P. Read for the top job last August.


Already facing adversity over dipping PC sales industry-wide, AMD’s stock price took a hit over Seifert’s announcement, to the tune of 11.72%. "Thomas has been the one that many have trusted to keep operating expenses under control during a difficult time in the economy," Longbow Research analyst Joanne Feeney told Reuters. "I suspect some of the concerns you're seeing in after-market trading reflect concerns about whether that kind of spending discipline will be maintained without his leadership."

Seifert will remain at AMD through September 28th, and Devinder Kumar, AMD’s senior vice president and corporate controller, will fill in for him until a permanent CFO is hired.