Jeff Clarke, 52, has been apointed as CEO of Kodak, replacing Antonio Perez. James Continenza, chairman of the Kodak board, said that many candidates had been evaluated, adding: “His past leadership positions have included businesses selling hardware, software and services, and printing – with B2B customers as well as consumers.”
Clarke will be paid $1m as a base salary, less than Perez’s $1.1m, but with a further $4m in stock options plus performance related bonuses.
Having successfully emerged from the chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a leaner organisation, Kodak is now aiming to grow its revenues, likely to be a tough job as the company tries to balance its mature CtP and workflow technology with the potential growth in inkjet printing. Its future is likely to depend on how much success it has in the growing areas of functional and industrial printing, areas that a lot of inkjet printing vendors are turning to now.
Clarke commented: “My first priority is to spend my time listening to Kodak’s employees, customers, partners and other stakeholders as part of a detailed evaluation of our operations, market opportunities and approach for success.”
He has had a varied career, mainly in corporate finance working with Compag and later HP, as well as enterprise software company CA inc. Most recently he was a Managing Partner of Augusta Columbia Capital (ACC), a private investment firm focused on middle market technology and technology-enabled businesses that he co-founded in 2012.
Clarke will also continue to work as chairman of Orbitz Worldwide, a global online travel agency since 2007. He will also continue to serve on the boards of two enterprise software companies, Red Hat Inc and Compuware Corporation.
Antonio Perez will continue to draw a salary as a Special Advisor to the Board under a two-year deal not to work for a competitor.
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