Wednesday, Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), a semiconductors provider for communication industry, has hired former finance head of Allergan, Inc., Eric Brandt as its Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President. Brandt takes the place of William Ruehle who retired in September 2006. Brandt has twice been named one of the Best CFOs in America in Institutional Investor magazine. Since the time of Ruehle's retirement, Broadcom's Vice President and Corporate Controller Bruce Kiddoo filled in as Acting Chief Financial Officer.
The Irvine, California based company said Brandt was selected following a global search for the top finance job at Broadcom. Brandt is expected to assume responsibilities later this month and until such time, Kiddoo will continue discharging finance responsibilities as Acting Chief Financial Officer, reverting back to his original responsibilities thereafter.
Most recently, Brandt had been the Chief Executive Officer of Avanir Pharmaceuticals since September 2005. Prior to that, Brandt was associated with Allergan, Inc. in various capacities including that of Executive Vice President - Finance and Technical Operations and Chief Financial Officer.
Earlier, Brandt had a 10-year stint with The Boston Consulting Group in Boston in various roles including that of Vice President and Partner and senior member with the heath care practice. His responsibilities included involvement with global pharmaceutical companies on business and market strategies related to acquisitions and manufacturing amongst other responsibilities.
Brandt is a chemical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Brandt said, "Having spent numerous years working with large, global companies as well as in more entrepreneurial settings, I look forward to bringing my experience and skills to a company that combines both, while at the same time working with a world-class team of individuals whose innovative technology and products are changing the way the world communicates."
BRCM closed Wednesday's regular trading at $34.05, up $0.62 or 1.85%, on a volume of 17.0 million shares on the Nasdaq. In after-hours trading, the company's stock further gained $0.03 or 0.09%, trading at $34.08.
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