Western Digital Corp.’s chief legal officer Michael Ray is stepping away from his role at the corporation as it prepares to subdivide following unsuccessful merger discussions with Kioxia Holdings Corp of Japan. As disclosed in a securities filing on January 4, Ray will officially leave his post on January 12 to pursue another venture. Set to succeed him is Cynthia Lock Tregillis, currently the deputy general counsel for government affairs and corporate legal services at Western Digital.
Following the breakdown of their merger with Kioxia, Western Digital, with support from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, announced it would split into two publicly traded companies
. The decision came after South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker and an indirect shareholder in Kioxia, voiced objections to the proposed merger with Western Digital.
Western Digital’s division plan involves retaining its hard disk drive sector and spinning off its flash division – a sector that focuses on memory for computers, devices, and portable drivers. Notably, Western Digital previously attempted to merge its flash unit with Kioxia to improve its competitive stance against Samsung Electronics Co.
During his tenure at Western Digital, which began in 2000, Ray held the general counsel role from 2010 and accepted additional legal responsibilities in 2015. Western Digital’s most recent proxy statement, filed in October, disclosed that Ray’s total compensation during fiscal 2023 fell to nearly $2.9 million – down from almost $7.1 million the previous year. At present, he is the owner of approximately $9 million in Western Digital stock, according to Bloomberg data.
Western Digital’s legal division saw more changes over the past year, appointing former Apple Inc. executive Joseph Santosuosso its new chief compliance officer last September.
Western Digital continues to rely on Skadden for assistance during its split process, having also represented the corporation on a $900 million investment from Apollo Global Management Inc. and Elliott Investment Management LP-associated funds in 2021.
With the imminent departure of Ray, the data storage rival company Seagate Technology Holdings PLC also revealed that its top legal officer Katherine “Kate” Schuelke will step down to pursue another opportunity outside the company, as disclosed in a sec filing. Robert Beard, Micron Technology Co.’s ex-top lawyer, also made a transition last summer to become the legal chief and head of global policy at Mastercard Inc.