Credo Technology Group Holding Inc., a semiconductor startup that benefits from large clients with data needs, has hired James Laufman as its new chief legal officer, according to a press release and securities filing.
Laufman is the company’s third general counsel hire so far this year and replaces Katherine Schuelke, who joined Credo only in January but resigned on Aug. 12. Laufman began her role on Aug. 19. Schuelke replaces Credo’s former general counsel, Adam Thorngate Gotland, who spent seven years at the San Jose, Calif.-based company and helped lead the company to an initial public offering in 2022.
Credo disclosed in its proxy statement filed Monday that Schuelke will receive total compensation of more than $7.3 million in fiscal 2024, mostly in the form of stock-based awards. Thorngate Gotland received about $227,000 in cash before leaving on Jan. 25. The filing details a separation agreement with Schuelke, who will remain as a special adviser to Credo until Jan. 31, 2025.
In this transitional role, Schuelke will be paid a pro-rata monthly rate of $31,250 out of an annual base salary of $375,000.The separation agreement states that the restricted stock units given to Schuelke upon her hire, valued at approximately $7.2 million over a four-year vesting schedule, will vest through Oct. 26. After that date, she will lose any unvested Credo shares.
Credo gave no reason for Mr. Schuelke’s departure. Mr. Schuelke also did not respond to requests for comment. Over the past year, Credo’s shares have soared along with demand for high-speed connectivity and computer infrastructure products such as semiconductors and data cables used by customers such as Amazon.com Inc., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. seeking more computing power in the age of generative artificial intelligence.
Before joining Credo, Mr. Schuelke was the longtime general counsel for computer-storage giant Seagate Technology Holdings Inc. In June, Seagate hired former Maxar Technologies Inc. general counsel James Lee to replace Mr. Schuelke, paying him $1.7 million in 2023, according to proxy filings.
Sharp Gains in Stocks
Credo’s soaring stock price has been a boon for some, including Mr. Schuelke’s predecessor, Thorngate Gotland, whose Credo shares have a market value of more than $11 million, according to Bloomberg data. Mr. Schuelke will get just a fraction of that, with a market value of $10.5 million. He also owns about $3 million in Seagate stock and about $2.9 million in fabless chipmaker SiTime Inc., where Mr. Schuelke joined the company’s board of directors in 2019.
Mr. Schuelke began his career as a lawyer at Morrison & Foerster before spending more than 20 years at another semiconductor company, Altera Inc., where he served as chief counsel and oversaw its sale to Intel for $16.7 billion in 2016. Seagate hired him the following year.
Her successor at Credo, Ms. Laufman, was most recently chief counsel at Automation Anywhere Inc., a privately held San Jose-based software company backed by SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund. Ms. Laufman joined Automation Anywhere in 2018 after serving as general counsel for four companies, including Marvell Technology Inc. and Infinera Inc. During that time, Ms. Laufman has been involved in many legal battles in the technology sector.
Credo, founded in 2008, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit this year against Credo AI, an artificial intelligence governance startup that was valued at $100 million last month. Credo, represented by Morrison & Foerster in the lawsuit, claims that the similarly named company “caused actual confusion and harm” to its business. Credo’s civil lawsuit cites a meeting by Credo’s chief executive officer with a representative from Google LLC, who mistook the company for Credo AI.
According to court documents, the parties have agreed to hold pre-settlement conferences on Oct. 28 before U.S. District Judge Lisa Cisneros in San Francisco.
