Durham semiconductor firm Wolfspeed has ousted its CEO, Gregg Lowe. Over the past seven years, Lowe transformed the company from an LED lighting company to one solely focused on silicon carbide chips, a popular component in electric vehicles.
Why it matters: Lowe has overseen a large expansion of Wolfspeed’s chips business, opening a chip factory in New York and charting an ambitious expansion in Chatham County .
- But his leadership has also come under some scrutiny, with an activist investor pushing back on his expansion plans and urging a potential sale of the company.
Zoom in: In recent months, the company has moved to l ay off 20% of its staff , closed a factory in Durham and delayed a future plant in Germany.
- And in the past few years, its stock price has fallen from a high of around $140 a share to around $7 a share on the news Lowe was being removed.
- The company, founded on technology built at N.C. State University, has said throughout it is still committed to the 1,800 job expansion it has planned in Chatham County.