Dive Brief:
- San Jose, California-based Super Micro Computer said Thursday that long-time CFO David Weigand stepped down from the post, effective immediately, according to a press release and securities filing.
- The AI server maker, which was advised by an independent special committee to hire a new finance chief in 2024 after “lapses” in certain processes were identified, appointed former Western Digital CFO Mark Long to succeed Weigand. The outgoing CFO has served as finance chief since 2021, according to his LinkedIn.
- Charles Liang, the company’s founder, president, and CEO, cited Long’s strategic expertise in a statement in the release. “I’m confident Mark will have an immediate positive impact in strengthening and accelerating our operational and financial execution as we continue to scale our business to capture the next wave of AI and IT infrastructure growth,” Liang said.
Dive Insight:
The financial leadership change comes as the high-flying AI darling has wrestled with serious legal and compliance issues.
In May, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called out the company, asserting that its partner needed to strengthen its export compliance controls. In response to news that Taiwan had detained three people for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about AI servers made by SMC, Huang said he hoped Super Micro “will enhance and improve their regulation compliance and avoid that from happening in the future,” Bloomberg reported.
In a statement at the time, Super Micro asserted that the events underscored the need for “industry-wide solutions that would further help safeguard supply chains and strengthen enforcement of export control laws,” CFO Dive previously reported.
The rebuke from Nvidia’s CEO came after Super Micro’s co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, another executive and a contractor — all no longer affiliated with the company — were indicted in March in the U.S. in connection with a smuggling scheme involving billions of dollars of servers with AI chips diverted to China. In April the company, which was not named as a defendant in the indictment, launched an independent investigation into the indictments.
Meanwhile, Super Micro’s protracted internal control repairs have also drawn criticism, including from accounting academics, as its efforts to fix weaknesses in its internal financial controls have dragged into a second year.
Long, 59, most recently served as a principal at Prime Impact Capital, an investment advisory firm where he started in 2019, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
From 2020 to 2023, Long was also co-CEO and CFO of Prime Impact Acquisition I, a public special purpose acquisition company. He served as CFO of data storage company Western Digital from 2016 to 2019 and as its chief strategy officer from 2015 to 2019. He holds a Juris Doctor and a MBA from the University of Michigan.
As Super Micro’s CFO, Long’s compensation includes a $725,000 annual base salary, a $500,000 guaranteed annual cash bonus and will be eligible for an annual performance-based cash bonus valued at between $225,000 and $725,000. The company’s offer letter also provides for a $500,000 sign-on bonus.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
