Infineon's Schumacher resigns

MUNICH, Germany -- Ulrich Schumacher, the chief executive officer of Infineon Technologies AG, has resigned, the company confirmed Thursday (March 25, 2004).

The 45 year-old Schumacher gave his resignation with immediate effect during a supervisory board meeting Thursday and his resignation was accepted by the board, according to an Infineon spokesperson but no reason for Schumacher's departure was given. Schumacher is to be replaced temporarily by supervisory board chairman Max Dietrich Kley for a period of no more than one year, the company spokesperson said.

Schumacher had led Infineon as chief executive officer since it was spun off from Germay's largest engineering concern Siemens AG on April 1, 1999. Schumacher was in charge of the Siemens Semiconductor division prior to the formation of Infineon and was a driving force behind the spin-off's IPO and independent existence.

Prior to leading the semiconductor division Schumacher had been in charge of the memory business unit and had been a rising star within the Siemens' organization through much of his early professional career.

However making profits at Infineon, which has a major proportion of its sales in DRAM, proved difficult. Under Schumacher, Infineon reported its first profit in more than two years in the quarter ended in September 2003, and appeared to be preparing for a profitable 2004.

The news of Schumacher's resignation, and the manner of its breaking -- apparently without any form of stage management -- was greeted with shock around the industry.

Shareholders in Infineon and their stockbrokers and analysts are expected to demand more detail about Schumacher's sudden resignation in return for continuing to hold Infineon shares.