Marvell Director Resigns

Six weeks isn't a long time to sit on a board.

But it was apparently long enough for Marvell Technology's(MRVL Quote) newest director, who resigned unexpectedly last week.

In a filing with the SEC Wednesday, Marvell disclosed that Michael Sophie resigned from the board of directors, including his positions on the audit and executive compensation committee, on Dec. 6.

The news represents the latest personel change at Marvell, and comes at a time when the Santa Clara, Calif., chipmaker is trying to rehabilitate its image amid a particularly messy stock option backdating investigation.

Marvell did not say why Sophie resigned, but noted that "the departure was not based on any disagreements between Mr. Sophie and the registrant relating to the registrant's operations, policies or practices, including without limitation the registrant's accounting practices and compensation practices."

Sophie, the former CFO at networking firm UTStarcom(UTSI Quote) (which has had its own share of internal accounting investigations involving backdating as well as revenue recognition at an office in western China), joined Marvell's board of directors on Oct. 25, after the management shake-up.

Earlier this year, Marvell's finance chief and general counsel both left the company amid the backdating investigation, and Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Weili Dai was demoted to a non-executive position.