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New CEO for Xilinx

Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO -- Xilinx(XLNX Quote - Cramer on XLNX - Stock Picks) appointed a new chief executive Monday, ending a five-month search to find a replacement for longtime CEO Willem Roelandts.

The programmable-chip maker said it had tapped Moshe Gavrielov, an executive at Cadence Design Systems(CDNS Quote - Cramer on CDNS - Stock Picks), for its top job. Roelandts will remain chairman of the board.

"Moshe's selection was approved unanimously by our board of directors, and we're fully confident that he is the right person to lead Xilinx through its next stage of growth," Roelandts said in a statement.

Roelands, 63, served as CEO at Xilinx since 1996, following a three-decade career at Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote - Cramer on HPQ - Stock Picks). Xilinx announced Roelandts' intention to resign in August.

According to Xilinx, Roelands grew the chipmaker's sales from $560 million to $1.8 billion in fiscal 2007, during his tenure as chief executive while broadening Xilinx's business into new markets including consumer electronics, automotive and industrial.

Shares of Xilinx were unchanged at $20.46 in extended trading Monday. The chipmaker's stock is down roughly 33% since its 52-week high of $30.50 in April.

Gavrielov was most recently the general manager of Cadence's verification group. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Verisity.

In a filing with the SEC, Xilinx said that Gavrielov will pocket an annual salary of $700,000, similar to Roelandts' pay. Gavrielov will be eligible for a bonus equal to 25% of salary in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, and 100% of his salary in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. He will also receive stock options for 750,000 shares of Xilinx common stock.