- After around 22 years in the position
- Praise for Mike Chang
- Stephen Chang taking over
- Mike Chang will remain as Executive Chairman at Alpha & Omega
- Mike Chang said 75 words
(exechange) — Sunnyvale, California, December 8, 2022 — Mike Chang, chief executive of Alpha & Omega, leaves his position. As announced by Alpha & Omega Semiconductor Ltd. in a news release published on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, December 8, 2022, Mike F. Chang leaves his post as chief executive officer at the supplier of power semiconductors, after around 22 years in the role, effective March 1, 2023.
It is the end of an era.
The average tenure of CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 8.1 years. Around 6% of CEOs left their posts after more than 20 years. This is according to data collected by CEO-exit research firm exechange.
exechange tracks CEO departures at the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S., examines the reasons CEOs leave and determines the Push‑out Score™, a measure of pressure on departing chief executives on a scale of 0 to 10.
Mike Chang’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Stephen Chang, currently President at Alpha & Omega Semiconductor Ltd.
It is a generational change in the truest sense of the word.
Stephen Chang is a son of Mike Chang.
Stephen Chang is about 32 years younger than Mike Chang.
“Focusing more on strategic matters”
Alpha & Omega did not give an explicit reason for Mike Chang’s departure from the CEO post. Alpha & Omega said: “As a full-time Executive Chairman, Dr. Chang will continue to be deeply involved in AOS by focusing more on strategic matters such as key relationships with critical partners and customers of AOS and technology development essential to ensure sustained and long-term growth.”
The top three reasons cited in corporate announcements for CEO departures over the past 12 months are performance issues (25.6% of cases), implementation of a planned succession (16%) and the statement that the time was right for a change (8.6%), according to exechange data. Other motives given for leadership changes included the outgoing CEO’s wish to pursue other opportunities (6.5% of cases), personal reasons (3.4%) and conduct issues (2.5%). Rather rarely stated reasons are health problems (2.5% of cases), career change (2.2%), the desire for more time with family (0.9%), disagreement (0.6%) and death (0.6%). Sometimes, more than one reason was given. In 30.6% of cases, no reason was given.
Mike Chang will remain as Executive Chairman at Alpha & Omega
Alpha & Omega stated: “Dr. Mike Chang, currently Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, will serve as Executive Chairman of AOS, and he will transition the role of Chief Executive Officer to Mr. Stephen Chang, currently the President of AOS. The leadership transition will be effective on March 1, 2023. ”
Share price decline since December 2021
The announcement follows a decline in Alpha & Omega Semiconductor Ltd.’s share price of 36% since December 2021.
In the position of CEO since 2000
Mike Chang became CEO of the Company in 2000.
Mike Chang is the founder of the Company and has served as Chairman of the Board and CEO since the Company’s incorporation.
Prior to establishing the Company, Chang served as the Executive Vice President at Siliconix Incorporated, a subsidiary of Vishay Intertechnology Inc., a global manufacturer and supplier of discrete and other power semiconductors, or Siliconix, from 1998 to 2000.
Chang also held various management positions at Siliconix from 1987 to 1998.
Earlier in his career, Chang focused on product research and development in various management positions at General Electric Company from 1974 to 1987.
75 words by Mike Chang
In the news release announcing his departure as CEO of Alpha & Omega Semiconductor Ltd., Mike Chang received praise.
In the announcement of the leadership change, Mike Chang said 75 words.
“With great confidence and pleasure”
Mike Chang stated: “It has been a tremendous privilege to serve as Chief Executive Officer of AOS, and I am very proud of the many successes and accomplishments since the inception of our company. It is with great confidence and pleasure that I now turn the chief executive position to Stephen, who has already demonstrated his leadership skills and business acumen since his appointment as AOS’s President two years ago, leading AOS to achieve record revenues and profitability.”
Over the past 12 months, 27% of all outgoing CEOs remained silent in the departure announcement, according to data compiled by exechange. Departing CEOs who did make a statement said an average of 109 words. The longest statement was 382 words. The shortest statement was 23 words. Leadership transitions in which departing CEOs provide conspicuously short, excessively long or no explanations for their move are statistically associated with elevated pressure and show an increased incidence of Push-out Scores above the critical threshold of 5. In contrast, leadership changes are statistically associated with low pressure when departing CEOs speak more about their successors than their successes.
32% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 324 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (December 8, 2021, to December 7, 2022), the average Push-out Score was 5.6, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When time with family, performance issues or personal reasons were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 32% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, three in 10 departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Pressure in the information technology sector well above the critical threshold
Some industries are under generally higher pressure than others, and CEOs are feeling the strain. In the past 12 months, the communication, health care and consumer staples sectors showed the highest average Push-out Scores. By contrast, pressure on CEOs was lowest in the real estate, financials and industrials sectors, as measured by average Push-out Scores.
In the information technology sector, which includes Alpha & Omega Semiconductor Ltd., the average Push-out Score over the past 12 months was 6.2, which is well above the critical threshold of 5.
In the information technology sector, 19 exiting CEOs received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher over the past 12 months, indicating that they were most likely forced out or faced strong pressure to step down.
Push-out Score for Mike Chang’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Mike Chang’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to Alpha & Omega and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 50.2022 ($).