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FormFactor, Inc. Announces Retirement of Igor Khandros
| Source: FormFactor
LIVERMORE, CA--(Marketwire - April 29, 2009) - FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ : FORM ) today
announced that effective May 1, 2009, Igor Khandros, founder and Executive
Chairman, will retire from the company and the board of directors.
Khandros will continue to serve as a key advisor to the company, leveraging
his long experience and expertise in the development of wafer test
solutions.
Khandros, 54, founded FormFactor in 1993. Khandros led the company from a
private start-up to a publicly traded company, with one of the leading
intellectual property portfolios within the semiconductor manufacturing
sector. His pioneering work is largely responsible for creating the
industry for advanced wafer probe cards and, with it, delivering
significant test cost reduction and efficiency to semiconductor
manufacturers globally. His vision for semiconductor test continues to
drive technological innovation with bottom line benefit to customers. For
his contributions to semiconductor test, in 2006, Dr. Khandros received the
SEMI Award for North America, the highest award conferred by the SEMI
industry association.
"I have been fortunate to work with many talented FormFactor people who
have shared my vision and helped bring innovations to the semiconductor
test industry," said Khandros. "We have together built an important company
that has changed the landscape in the semiconductor testing industry.
FormFactor has the technology, products and people not only to respond to
the current challenging times, but to lead the testing industry forward
into the future."
"Igor and I are confident we have put together a team of leaders and an
operation structure that will continue to drive FormFactor's innovation
engine and deliver to our customers industry leading technology and
solutions," said Mario Ruscev, CEO of FormFactor. "From the foundation
Igor helped build, we remain committed to hiring the world's best technical
talent and to solving the industry's challenges in wafer test. Igor built
a great company that leaves us in an excellent position for success in the
future. On behalf of the company as a whole, I wish Igor the very best as
he begins the next chapter in his life."
Khandros is the holder of more than 220 FormFactor patents, including
patents related to test sockets, microelectronic contacts, spring
fabrication, wafer probing and other topics. Khandros took FormFactor
public in 2003 and was the company's CEO from its founding in 1993 to 2008,
when Ruscev assumed the role of chief executive. For the past year,
Khandros has served as the company's executive chairman. FormFactor also
announced that lead independent director Jim Prestridge will succeed
Khandros as chairman beginning in May.
About FormFactor:
Founded in 1993, FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ : FORM ) is the leader in advanced
wafer probe cards, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to
electrically test integrated circuits, or ICs. The company's wafer sort,
burn-in and device performance testing products move IC testing upstream
from post-packaging to the wafer level, enabling semiconductor
manufacturers to lower their overall production costs, improve yields, and
bring next-generation devices to market. FormFactor is headquartered in
Livermore, California with operations in Europe, Asia and North America.
For more information, visit the company's website at www.formfactor.com.
FormFactor and the FormFactor logo are registered trademarks of FormFactor,
Inc. All other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned
herein are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature
are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities
laws, including statements regarding operations, business outlook, demand
for our products and future growth. These forward-looking statements are
based on current information and expectations that are inherently subject
to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or
results might differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement
due to various factors, including, but not limited to: changes in the
market environment, including the demand for certain semiconductor devices,
and the company's ability to successfully respond to challenging market
conditions, to lead the testing industry through its technology, products
and people, to develop innovative testing technologies, and to timely
deliver and qualify new products that meet its customers' testing
requirements and lower their overall cost of test. Additional information
concerning factors that could cause actual events or results to differ
materially from those in any forward-looking statement is contained in the
company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008 as filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and subsequent SEC
filings. Copies of the company's SEC filings are available at
http://investors.formfactor.com/edgar.cfm. The company assumes no
obligation to update the information in this press release, to revise any
forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could
differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.