Finance-Tech Exec Takes Over Position from Ken Sexton
Avid said that John Frederick, a former executive with finance-industry tech provider Open Solutions, is its new chief financial officer, effective immediately.
Frederick replaces former EVP and CFO Ken Sexton, whom Avid CEO Louis Hernandez Jr. said will be retained "in a consulting capacity" for an unspecified period of time.
"John is a seasoned financial executive with extensive experience directing the strategic performance of high-growth technology companies," said Hernandez in a prepared statement. "I previously worked with John at Open Solutions, and John's leadership and financial acumen were instrumental in our successful sale to Fiserv [in January of this year]. I am thrilled to have him be part of the team at Avid, as we take the company into its next phase of growth."
Avid's army of faithful users are hoping an influx of new corporate management at Avid will help pull the company out of financial doldrums that saw the company's stock dip to a low of $5.85 a share. Hernandez was named CEO in February of this year.
The mood among Avid editors at NAB was fairly upbeat this year, given the announcement of a new Media Composer 7 with more seamless AMA media management and a $999 price tag, with all the features of Symphony available as a $1499 option. At the same time, the company's finances drew more attention than ever before, which cast a shadow over the news. Wall Street seems a bit happier with Avid lately, as shares climbed to $6.37 this morning. But the company has yet to announce earnings for its last fiscal year, originally scheduled for release February 26, owing to accounting issues related to "bug fixes, upgrades and enhancements" to "certain products … provided to certain customers."
For more information: www.avid.com
