Xilinx's Roelandts to step down from CEO post

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 8/7/2007

Programmable logic supplier Xilinx Inc. today announced that Willem P. Roelandts intends to retire from his posts as president and CEO of the company.

Roelandts, 62, has been at the helm of the company since 1996, and will continue to serve as chairman of Xilinx's board of directors following his retirement. According to Xilinx's annual report filed in May, Roelandts is slated to receive total compensation of more than $4.4 million for his work at Xilinx in fiscal 2007.

A committee of the company's board of directors has been formed to begin an immediate search
for a successor, evaluating both external and internal candidates, the company said. Roelandts will remain CEO until a successor is named.

Xilinx did not provide details on the reasons for Roelandt's exit. Company reps could not be reached for comment or further details on Roelandts retirement.

The past year has not been the smoothest for Roelandts and his company; in 2006, Xilinx was targeted along with a slew of other companies in an industry-wide crackdown on the illegal practice of backdating stock options. However, the company and its executives have since been cleared of any charges of participation in fraudulent accounting activity.