Western Digital’s CEO Will Retire

Charles A. Haggerty, who guided one of the world’s largest computer disk drive manufacturers, Western Digital Corp., through periods of explosive growth followed by a devastating slump, said he will retire as chief executive by next June. The Irvine company said it has launched a search for a successor, and it simultaneously announced a management restructuring to streamline decision-making and make Western more customer-oriented and responsive to changes in its markets. During Haggerty’s six-year tenure as CEO, Western Digital saw its revenue more than quadruple, peaking in 1997 at $4.2 billion, only to fall back since then as the industry has gone through one of the steepest downturns ever. The company is expected to post its seventh consecutive quarterly loss today when it issues its earnings report for its fourth fiscal quarter ended June 30.