Cirrus Logic: John Forsyth Appointed President and CEO

 Cirrus Logic announced that Jason Rhode will step down as CEO and director effective January 1, 2021. The Cirrus Logic Board of Directors has appointed John Forsyth, 47, the current president, as president and CEO, effective January 1, 2021. After stepping down as CEO, Jason Rhode will continue to serve as Cirrus Logic's Executive Fellow and work with John Forsyth to be directly involved in the company's customer relationships and talent development. In addition, the company announced that David Tupman will succeed Al Schuele as Chairman of the Board, also effective January 1, 2021. Al Schuele will retire before the next annual shareholders meeting.

“It has been my pleasure to work alongside Jason Rhode as Chairman of Cirrus Logic’s Board of Directors for the past eight years. During his tenure, Jason Rhode has led the company to significant financial growth, strong customer relationships and an exceptional corporate culture,” said Al Schuele, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “We are grateful for his accomplishments over the years at Cirrus Logic and look forward to continuing to benefit from his role as Executive Fellow. The Board of Directors unanimously elected John Forsyth as the next Chief Executive Officer based on his outstanding performance in various leadership roles since joining Cirrus Logic in 2014. We are excited to work with him in his new role and are confident that his strong leadership and strategic vision will continue to deliver long-term value to our shareholders, employees and customers.”

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to lead Cirrus Logic over the past 13 years,” said Jason Rhode. “We have built a best-in-class company with leading technology, outstanding employees and relationships with the best customers in the world. John Forsyth has done an outstanding job leading the company as President. He has the passion, vision, leadership and teamwork necessary for a successful CEO. I am excited to continue working with him in his new role.”

“I am excited and honored to become the next CEO of Cirrus Logic,” said John Forsyth. “We have a talented team and are committed to serving customers who are creating the world’s most innovative products. I am confident that our strategic plan will continue to deliver innovation, solidify the company’s leadership in audio, and extend our success into new technology areas. I look forward to working closely with our Board of Directors, leadership team, employees and customers to continue to realize the company’s vision of being the first choice in signal processing.”

John Forsyth joined Cirrus Logic in 2014 through the acquisition of Wolfson Microelectronics. With more than 20 years of experience in embedded technology, he was appointed president of the company in January 2020. Prior to being appointed president, John Forsyth served as chief strategy officer, responsible for driving Cirrus Logic's product strategy for low-power, high-precision mixed-signal processing solutions. Prior to joining Wolfson in 2012, John Forsyth led product development and strategy at several technology companies, including serving as chief technology officer of the Symbian Foundation and vice president of strategy at Symbian Software.

David Tupman joined the Cirrus Logic Board in 2015 and is currently the owner of Details Lab, a consulting firm focused on scaling organizations for high growth, technology development, and new product introductions. From 2001 to 2011, David Tupman worked at Apple, rising from manager to vice president of hardware engineering, leading hardware engineering and technology teams for multiple mobile devices. He holds more than 30 U.S. and global patents and received a Bachelor of Engineering and an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Salford, UK.