Semiconductor Maker Credo Gets Third Legal Chief in Seven Months

Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd., a semiconductor industry upstart benefiting from big clients with data demands, has hired James Laufman as its new chief legal officer, according to a press release and securities filing.

Laufman is the third legal chief employed by the company so far this year, succeeding Katherine Schuelke, who stepped down Aug. 12 despite only joining Credo in January. Laufman started Aug. 19. Schuelke had replaced Credo’s former general counsel, Adam Thorngate-Gottlund, who spent seven years at the San Jose, California-based company and helped take it public in 2022.

Credo disclosed in a proxy statement filed Monday that Schuelke received more than $7.3 million in total compensation during fiscal 2024, with the bulk of that sum comprised of stock awards. Thorngate-Gottlund was paid roughly $227,000 in cash prior to his exit Jan. 25. The filing details a separation agreement with Schuelke, who will remain a special adviser to Credo through Jan. 31, 2025.

That transitional role will pay Schuelke a prorated $31,250 monthly allotment of her $375,000 annual base salary. The separation agreement states the restricted stock units given to Schuelke at the time of her hire—valued at nearly $7.2 million on a four-year vesting schedule—will continue to vest through Oct. 26. After that date she will forfeit her unvested Credo shares.

Credo declined to give a reason for Schuelke’s departure. Schuelke didn’t respond to a request for comment. Within the past year, Credo’s stock price has spiked along with demand for its high-speed connectivity and computer infrastructure products—such as semiconductors and data cables—that are used by clients such as Amazon.com Inc., Intel Corp., and Microsoft Corp. as they seek increased computing power in the age of generative artificial intelligence.

Prior to Credo, Schuelke was a longtime legal chief at computer storage outfit Seagate Technology Holdings PLC. In June, Seagate hired former Maxar Technologies Inc. general counsel James Lee to succeed Schuelke at the company, which paid her $1.7 million in 2023, according to a proxy filing.

Stock Windfall

Credo’s soaring stock price has been a boon to some, including Schuelke’s predecessor Thorngate-Gottlund, whose shares in the company are valued at more than $11 million, according to Bloomberg data. Schuelke’s Credo shares, which she stands to only see a portion of, are valued at $10.5 million. She also owns about $3 million in Seagate shares and nearly $2.9 million in stock at SiTime Corp., a fabless chipmaker whose board Schuelke joined in 2019.

Schuelke started her career in private practice at Morrison & Foerster before going on to spend more than two decades at Altera Corp., another semiconductor company where she was general counsel and handled its $16.7 billion sale in 2016 to Intel. Seagate hired Schuelke the next year.

Laufman, her successor at Credo, was most recently the top lawyer at Automation Anywhere Inc., a privately held, San Jose-based software company backed by Softbank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund. Laufman joined Automation Anywhere in 2018 after serving as general counsel for four different companies, including Marvell Technology Inc. and Infinera Corp. During that time Laufman had a hand in many legal battles in the technology sector.

Credo, founded in 2008, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit this year against Credo AI Corp., an artificial intelligence governance startup that was valued last month at $100 million. Credo, represented by Morrison & Foerster in the case, claims that its similarly named counterpart has “caused actual confusion and harm” to its business. Credo’s civil complaint cites a meeting its chief executive took with Google LLC representatives who mistook the company for Credo AI.

Court filings show that both parties have agreed on an Oct. 28 pre-settlement conference before US Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros in San Francisco.