Western Digital Chairman Tom Pardun to Retire

Western Digital Corp. said Wednesday that chairman Tom Pardun will retire in November, having reached the mandatory retirement age.

He will be succeeded as chairman by Matthew Massengill, 54. Mr. Massengill is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Western Digital and has been a director since 2000.

Len Lauer, 58, will become lead independent director. He has been a director since 2010.

Mr. Pardun, 71, joined the board in 1993 and has served two terms as chairman, for a total of 10 years. He was lead independent director for six years between those terms.

Founded in 1970 as a specialized semiconductor manufacturer, Western Digital entered the hard drive market in 1988 and became known for hard drives used in PCs. But faced with flagging PC sales, Western Digital expanded into the more lucrative market for drives used alongside servers and storage systems. Solid-state drives, or SSDs, are the mainstay medium for storing data in smartphones, tablets and other portable devices.

In the most recent quarter, Western Digital's profit fell sharply and revenue declined 13% from the year earlier, largely as a result of the falling demand for personal computers that has battered retailers and makers of computer parts and software alike.

Shares have fallen about 25% this year through Wednesday's close.

Write to Angela Chen at [e-mail]

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