Image source: Stratasys.
What happened?
Diversified 3D printing company Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS 3.41%) has had two major changes in its top executive ranks this month.
On Jan. 1, Lilach Payorski, formerly Stratasys' senior vice president of corporate finance, assumed the position of chief financial officer. She succeeded Erez Simha, who served as CFO for five years and broadened his role to include operations as well. Simha reportedly resigned from his position but is staying on to provide financial and operation support to management as needed.
Then last week, Stratasys' desktop 3D printing subsidiary, MakerBot, announced the resignation of CEO Jonathan Jaglom and the appointment of MakerBot president Nadav Goshen as his successor. Jaglom, who has led MakerBot for two years, took over soon after the the business imploded in the fourth quarter of 2014. Widespread quality issues with the "smart" extruders on the fifth-generation Replicator set off a plunge in sales.
These top personnel changes follow by about six months the appointment of board member Ilan Levin to CEO of Stratasys on July 1. He replaced longtime CEO David Reis, who retired.
Does it matter?
Only time will tell how much a new CFO and new CEO of MakerBot will matter for Stratasys, which has been struggling to grow revenue since early 2015. Both Stratasys and prime rival 3D Systems have been experiencing a slowdown in demand for their enterprise 3D printers.
This changing of the guard in two top executive positions isn't that surprising. Such changes are rather common soon after a new CEO comes on board any company. Sometimes the new leader will want to choose his or her top team. In other cases, some top execs might not mesh well with the new CEO, in which case they resign on their own. We can't know for sure what went on behind the scenes here.
Both newly appointed execs seem well suited to their new positions. Payorski, who has been with Stratasys for four years, has more than 20 years of finance experience and has served in various finance leadership roles over the past 10 years at several tech companies, according to the press release. Earlier in her career, she served as a CPA with Ernst & Young in Israel and later in Palo Alto, Calif.
Goshen reportedly has more than 15 years of experience leading turnarounds at tech companies. Before joining MakerBot, he led private-equity investments in technology companies and served in various C-level roles at tech companies.
