SiliconBeat

Affymetrix founder and chief executive Stephen P.A. Fodor (pictured) “will begin to transfer his CEO responsibilities to Kevin M. King, president of Affymetrix,” the company announced Wednesday afternoon. Fodor will assume a new role as full-time executive chairman of the company’s board. King will take over the top job on New Year’s Day.

The announcement comes on the heels of preliminary results released last week for its most recent quarter that estimated sales of about Read the rest of this entry »

Affymetrix, the Santa Clara maker of consumables for the life sciences and health care industries, has decided to “expand and renovate” its Warrensville Heights facility in Ohio rather than relocate its recently acquired USB subsidiary operations to California. Affymetrix acquired the developer of molecular and biochemical reagents in January with hopes of speeding up development of its genetic analysis product line.

The company had considered moving the USB operations to Read the rest of this entry »

Affymetrix, the Santa Clara maker of consumables for the life sciences and health care industry, said that its preliminary results for its third quarter showed sales of about $75 million, down from the $91.5 million most analysts were expecting. That’s an 18 percent miss, about the same size drop as the company’s stock price today, which fell Read the rest of this entry »

Affymetrix, the Santa Clara maker of products used in genetic analysis, said in a filing Tuesday that its head lawyer, General Counsel Barbara Caulfied (pictured), will be leaving the company to join the law firm of Dewey & LeBoef. What the filing did not reveal was that she will become co-chair of the firm’s intellectual property litigation group and is taking three other Affymetrix lawyers with her.  Ouch. Read the rest of this entry »

We previously wrote about the deal Affymetrix made with Kevin King, the executive it hired as president in December 2006. The company promised him help selling his New Jersey home in New Jersey in September King was paid $2,225,000 for it by a relocation services firm, according to a filing the company made at the time. Affymetrix said it would cover any loss on the sale of the house by the firm to a third party, and would likewise be entitled to any gain on the sale.

Yeah, right. Read the rest of this entry »

Sales of existing home sales fell in August to a five-year low, making the timing particularly sweet for Affymetrix President Kevin King.

Back in December when King was hired, Affymetrix promised him relocation assistance in selling his home in New Jersey “through a third-party service provider.” Last week King signed a contract with a relocation services firm for the sale of his New Jersey home for $2,225,000, “which was an appraised value of Mr. King’s house as determined by independent real estate professionals”, according to an 8-K filing the Santa Clara company made Tuesday.

We found that the median price for a home in the northern part of New Jersey where King used to work was $557,500 during the second quarter of 2007, up 6.3 percent from the year before, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Affymetrix, which makes products used in genetic analysis, said it would cover the loss on the actual sale of the house to a third party, and that it would likewise be entitled to any gain on the sale. The company will also pay the relocation firm “certain expenses associated with holding and selling the house.”

Good luck. Home sales in New Jersey during the second quarter of 2007 were down 16.5 percent from the year before.

A deal’s a deal, right?

Wrong. Not if you are a certain senior vice president for Affymetrix.

On Wednesday the Santa Clara provider of genetic analysis tools detailed the good-bye package it gave to Thane Kreiner. (Oh, by the way, his employment with the company ended July 27, something you might not have known had you not read this filing.)

Kreiner’s letter of agreement when he was first appointed to head up sales and marketing in April 2006 laid out the terms of his termination any time before an initial 18-month period. He would be entitled to the remainder of the salary he would have received through Oct. 2007, along with health coverage and vesting of his stock awards through the end of the period.

Kreiner had served 15 months and a week of the 18-month period when his employment was “terminated” July 27. By our calculations, he was due roughly $77,000 in residual salary along with health coverage and vesting rights through Oct. 20 under the terms of his signing agreement.

Instead, Affymetrix agreed to pay him $362,308, the salary he would have received through October 20, 2008 - an extra year - plus $117,000, of his annual target bonus along with an additional year of heath coverage and vesting of his stock awards.

But wait, there’s more. Kreiner’s was also guaranteed up to 12 months of job placement services worth $20,000, and “reasonable legal counsel fees incurred” in connection with the execution of the separation agreement, not to exceed $50,000.