Leadership
We have a dedicated and passionate group of leaders who not only drive our strategy and business operations, but who help to inspire our global team to think big about the possibilities of data.
Executive Leaders
CEO
Western Digital Corporation
David Goeckeler is the CEO at Western Digital and serves on the Board of Directors.
Since joining Western Digital in March 2020, Goeckeler has focused on the company’s transformation as the leading data storage producer in the industry. With more than 40% of the world’s data stored on its products, Western Digital solutions power innovation from the devices we use every day, to the edge, to the foundation of the cloud. The company has extensive operations throughout the United States and Asia, with over 65,000 employees worldwide. Its brands SanDisk, SanDisk Professional, WD, WD Black, and Western Digital are widely recognized globally for innovation, performance, and quality.
Previously, he was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Networking and Security Business, with responsibility for more than $34 billion of the company’s global technology franchise. He led a worldwide team of more than 25,000 engineers and oversaw Cisco’s networking and security strategy and market acceleration, including development operations for the company’s expansive technology portfolio and strategic acquisitions.
Goeckeler serves on the Board of Directors of the Semiconductor Industry Association and ADP, a comprehensive global provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and sits on the University of Illinois College of Engineering Board of Visitors.
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Western Digital Corporation
Wissam Jabre is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Western Digital, responsible for finance, accounting, financial reporting, tax, treasury, internal audit, and investor relations. Jabre has more than 20 years of financial experience, specifically in the semiconductor industry. Most recently, he was CFO at Dialog Semiconductor. Before joining Dialog Semiconductor in 2016, Jabre served as Corporate Vice President of Finance at Advanced Micro Devices. From 2004 to 2014, Jabre also held various finance positions during his 10-year tenure at Freescale Semiconductor, including Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, Vice President of Global Pricing, and Chief Financial Officer of the Networking & Multimedia Group. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut and an MBA from Columbia Business School, New York. Jabre is a CFA © charterholder.
Executive Vice President and Chief People & Inclusion Officer
Western Digital Corporation
Christine Bastian is Executive Vice President and Chief People & Inclusion Officer at Western Digital. In this role, she is responsible for driving a people strategy that supports the company’s vision of creating breakthrough innovation that enables the world to actualize its aspirations. To bring that people strategy to life, she oversees a number of critical functions including, global talent acquisition; people development and engagement; compensation and benefits; people analytics and digital solutions; and business and people partners. She also leads the Office of Inclusion to promote diversity and equity throughout the company’s global employee base.
As a seasoned HR leader, Bastian is respected for her expertise in organizational design, talent development, high-performance teaming and executive coaching as well as for her advocacy of full-spectrum diversity, equity and inclusion. She is passionate about people, technology and how she can contribute to do amazing things for the business, her community and our collective future.
Previously, Bastian was Senior Vice President of People & Communities at Cisco, where she led the enterprise in reimagining talent solutions that transformed the company’s approach to leaders and teams, learning and careers, performance, workforce planning, and hybrid work. With a focus on cultivating high-functioning teams, leader success, and adaptive change, she oversaw teams that drove the execution of acquisitions and divestitures and led people consulting for the company’s global engineering organization.
She is an active member of Global HR 50 and currently serves on the board of directors for the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum. Her work has been recognized by the YWCA Silicon Valley Tribute to Women Award in 2019; by the National Diversity Council as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology in 2020; by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a Woman of Influence in 2023; and by HR Director for leading the Best HR Team in the U.S. in 2023.
Bastian graduated from California Polytechnic State University.
Executive Vice President, Global Operations
Western Digital Corporation
Irving Tan is Executive Vice President for Global Operations at Western Digital. He is responsible for all global operations functions, including manufacturing operations, procurement and supply chain, and IT.
Widely known as an exceptional leader, Tan has decades of experience in sales and global operations, market transitions, and customer and government dynamics. His focus on people is evidenced by his track record leading high-performing teams that achieve sustained results. Most recently, he served as Cisco's Chairperson, Asia Pacific, Japan, and China, responsible for leading the company's strategy to capture the significant growth opportunity that the APJC region offered and strengthen key customer and ecosystem relationships.
During his time at Cisco, Tan also was Executive Vice President and Global Chief of Operations where he was responsible for the development and implementation of the company's operating strategy and targeted growth through productivity improvements and innovation across all core business functions, including sales, engineering, supply chain, and services. He also served as the sales leader of Cisco Asia Pacific and Japan, where he grew the sales business consistently over his tenure and advanced APJ's position as one of the most trusted IT partners and providers in the region.
Tan serves on the Stanley Black & Decker Board of Directors, the Singapore Economic Development Board, and the PSA International. Additionally, he has served as an advisor to governments and industry partners on using technology to innovate and transform. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in business administration from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, and an honorary doctoral degree in engineering from Curtin University.
Executive Vice President and General Manager, Flash Business
Western Digital Corporation
Robert Soderbery is Executive Vice President and General Manager, Flash Business.
Prior to joining Western Digital, Soderbery served as president of UpLift, Inc., a travel finance company. Soderbery previously served as senior vice president and general manager, enterprise products, and in other senior leadership roles at Cisco Systems. He also advanced through a series of leadership roles at Symantec Corporation, including senior vice president, storage and availability management group.
Soderbery currently serves on the board of directors of Rockwell Automation, Inc, and previously served as an advisor to such board from May 2017 to February 2022. He is also a managing member of Acclimate Ventures LLC, a consulting, advisory and investment firm.
Executive Vice President and General Manager, HDD Business
Western Digital Corporation
Ashley Gorakhpurwalla is Executive Vice President and General Manager, HDD business.
Prior to joining Western Digital, Gorakhpurwalla served as president and general manager of Servers and Infrastructure Systems at Dell EMC, where he led a $20 billion business that included the company's PowerEdge Server, Hyperconverged Infrastructure and Extreme Scale Infrastructure business units, as well as research and development for its Storage and Data Protection Platform.
With almost 30 years of technology industry experience, Gorakhpurwalla advanced through a series of engineering and business leadership roles at Dell Technologies that focused on complex data center infrastructure. Prior to leading Dell EMC's Server and Infrastructure Systems Business, he served as senior vice president of the company's PowerEdge engineering team.
Gorakhpurwalla holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University - Kingsville.
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Western Digital Corporation
Michael Ray is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Western Digital. He is responsible for the company's worldwide legal, risk management, compliance and government relations functions.
Prior to his current role, he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel since October 2010. He has held a number of positions at Western Digital since joining the company in 2000, including Senior Counsel, Assistant General Counsel and Vice President, Legal Services.
Ray serves as a member of the company's executive management team and provides strategic advice to the team and the members of the company's Board of Directors. He oversees teams responsible for supporting the company's efforts to develop, manufacture, market and sell storage products globally through the company's independent subsidiaries. He also leads teams responsible for protecting the company's significant intellectual property, strengthening and defending the company's brands worldwide, and complying with regulatory and public-company obligations.
Prior to joining Western Digital, Ray was corporate counsel for Wynn's International, Inc., an NYSE-listed manufacturer of automotive parts and chemicals; served the U.S. District Court, Central District of California as judicial clerk; and practiced trial law, law and motion and labor/employment law at O'Melveny & Myers, LLP.
Ray holds a bachelor's degree, with honors, from Harvard College; and a law degree, with honors, from Harvard Law School. Ray has received numerous awards and citations, including being honored as the Orange County Business Journal's Public Company General Counsel of the Year for 2012.
Ray has served since 2001 as a director of Mercy House Transitional Living Center, based in Santa Ana, California, one of California's largest providers of services and housing for homeless men, women and children. He is also a director of the United Way of Orange County, and has co-chaired the Orange County United Way Tocqueville Society Bench & Bar affinity group since 2013.
Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer
Western Digital Corporation
Jerald Kagele is Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. In this position he is responsible for managing unified customer relationships, optimizing revenue generation, and improving the customer experience. By overseeing the customer journey throughout the entire revenue lifecycle, Kagele drives go-to-market strategies, demand generation and planning, ongoing revenue operations, and product support for all Western Digital products and services.
Kagele joined Western Digital in 2009 and has spent more than 30 years in the technology industry. Before Western Digital he served as President of North America for Bell Microproducts where he was responsible for all business operations in the United States and Canada. Prior to Bell Microproducts he held executive positions at Avnet in both Europe and North America.
Board of Directors
Principal
Alexy Capital Management
Kimberly Alexy has been a director since November 2018. Alexy is a seasoned financial services professional and brings to the board more than 25 years of experience in capital markets, corporate finance and investments. She founded Alexy Capital Management, a private investment fund, in 2005 and serves as its principal. Previously, Alexy served as a sell-side equity research analyst on Wall Street for nearly a decade, specializing in the technology and corporate finance industries at Prudential Securities, Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Bank. Alexy is a chartered financial analyst.
Chief Executive Officer
GLOBALFOUNDRIES
Dr. Thomas Caulfield has been a director since July 2021.
Caulfield is a demonstrated leader with many years of experience in the semiconductor industry, spanning engineering, management and global operational leadership, and expertise in business leadership, corporate strategy, manufacturing and marketing experience. His extensive career spans roles in engineering, management and global operations. He also brings prior public company board experience.
Prior to being named CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES in 2018, he was senior vice president and general manager of the company’s 300 mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility (Fab 8). Prior to that, Caulfield held senior executive positions at several leading technology companies including IBM and Novellus Systems, Inc.
Former Chief Executive
Accenture plc Technology Group
Martin I. Cole has been a director since 2014. Prior to retiring in August 2014, Cole served as the chief executive of Accenture plc's Technology Group, with responsibility for the full range of Accenture’s technology consulting and outsourcing solutions and delivery capabilities, including its global delivery network. He led technology innovation, including the Accenture Technology Labs, the Accenture software business and development of emerging technology solutions, including cloud solutions. Prior to that, Cole served Accenture in a variety of capacities since 1980, including as chief executive of the communications, media and technology operating group, chief executive of the public service operating group, and global managing director of the outsourcing and infrastructure delivery group. During his tenure, Cole also served as the chairman of the board of Avanade, a joint venture of Accenture and Microsoft and was a member of Accenture’s global management and operating committees.
Cole currently serves as a director for The Western Union Company. He is the co-author of Unlocking Public Value: A New Model for Achieving High Performance in Public Service Organizations, a guide to understanding how public service organizations can measure, analyze and improve public value over time.
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
Maxim Integrated
Tunç Doluca has been a director since August 2018. Doluca brings over 40 years of executive leadership and technical experience in the semiconductor industry to the board. He served as the president and chief executive officer of Maxim Integrated, a developer of innovative analog and mixed-signal products and technologies, from 2007 to 2021, when it was acquired by Analog Devices, Inc. He led multiple strategic initiatives that transformed the company’s operational and manufacturing execution, including the alignment of product development with end markets and the transition of Maxim Integrated’s manufacturing to a more flexible hybrid production model. Previously, Doluca held a variety of management positions at Maxim Integrated, including leading R&D and serving as group president of its portable, computing and instrumentation electronics business units. He has designed over 40 products and holds 11 patents.
CEO
Western Digital Corporation
David Goeckeler is the CEO at Western Digital and serves on the Board of Directors.
Since joining Western Digital in March 2020, Goeckeler has focused on the company’s transformation as the leading data storage producer in the industry. With more than 40% of the world’s data stored on its products, Western Digital solutions power innovation from the devices we use every day, to the edge, to the foundation of the cloud. The company has extensive operations throughout the United States and Asia, with over 65,000 employees worldwide. Its brands SanDisk, SanDisk Professional, WD, WD Black, and Western Digital are widely recognized globally for innovation, performance, and quality.
Previously, he was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Networking and Security Business, with responsibility for more than $34 billion of the company’s global technology franchise. He led a worldwide team of more than 25,000 engineers and oversaw Cisco’s networking and security strategy and market acceleration, including development operations for the company’s expansive technology portfolio and strategic acquisitions.
Goeckeler serves on the Board of Directors of the Semiconductor Industry Association and ADP, a comprehensive global provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and sits on the University of Illinois College of Engineering Board of Visitors.
Chairman of the Board, Western Digital Corporation
Former President and Chief Executive Officer
Western Digital Corporation
Matthew Massengill is chairman of the board of directors of Western Digital Corporation. He has been a director of Western Digital since January 2000. He joined us in 1985 and served in various executive capacities with us until January 2007. From October 1999 until January 2000, he served as chief operating officer, from January 2000 until January 2002, he served as president, and from January 2000 until October 2005, he served as chief executive officer. Massengill served as chairman of the board of directors from November 2001 until March 2007.
Partner, Private Equity at Apollo Global Management
Reed Rayman has been a director since January 2023. Rayman is a Private Equity Partner at Apollo Global Management, a leading global alternative investment manager. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. in both the industrials investment banking and principal strategies groups from 2008 to 2010. Rayman also serves on the boards of directors of Yahoo Inc. (of which he is the Chairman), ADT Inc., Shutterfly, Edgio, Coinstar, Careerbuilder and EcoATM. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University.
Former Chief Executive Officer
Libbey Inc.
Stephanie Streeter has been a director since November 2018. Streeter brings extensive senior executive leadership experience overseeing companies with manufacturing and operations across the globe. She served as chief executive officer of Libbey Inc., a producer of glass tableware products, from 2011 to 2016, and held various roles at Banta Corporation, a commercial printing and supply-chain management services company, including chairman, president and chief executive officer, from 2001 to 2007. She also spent 14 years with Avery Dennison Corporation in a variety of product and business management positions, including as Group Vice President of Worldwide Office Products from 1996 to 2000. Streeter was a member of the board of directors of the United States Olympic Committee from 2004 to 2009, where she also served as Acting Chief Executive Officer from March 2009 to March 2010.
Non Executive Director at MetLife Japan and Jera Co., Inc.
Miyuki Suzuki has been a director since July 2021.
Currently serving as a director on the boards of MetLife Japan and Jera, Japan’s largest power generation company, Suzuki has over 35 years of leadership experience in the technology and telecommunications industries. With deep global operations expertise that spans across the Asia Pacific region, she most recently was president of Asia Pacific, Japan and China at Cisco.
Prior to that, Suzuki held senior leadership roles at Jetstar Airways, LexisNexis, Japan Telecom and Thomson Reuters Corporation. Suzuki holds a master of arts degree in History from the University of Oxford. She serves on the board of directors of Twilio Inc.
Committee Chairs
U.S. Public Policy Activities
Western Digital participates in legislative, regulatory, and public policy affairs as deemed by management and the Board of Directors to be in the best interests of the Company without regard for the private political preferences of executives. The Board of Directors' Governance Committee, which consists solely of independent directors, reviews and approves on at least an annual basis the Company's political and lobbying strategy, activities and expenditures, including payments to trade associations, and the policies and procedures regarding the foregoing. The Company's Government Affairs function directs all political activity on the federal, state, and local level, in compliance with the Western Digital U.S. Political Activities Policy, where applicable.
The Company does not have or support a political action committee. The Company also does not make independent political expenditures using corporate funds or resources, nor do we make payments to trade and other industry associations to be used specifically for political purposes. Prior approval by the Governance Committee is required to use corporate funds or resources for donations to local, state, or national elections, whether to candidates, political parties, non-candidate organizations, Section 501(c)(4) organizations, Section 527 organizations, or local or state ballot measures. The Governance Committee has approved the use of corporate funds or resources for donations to local, state, or national elections for the following: None, as of July 31, 2023. This information will be updated if/when any such spending occurs or at least every 6 months. Should such spending be approved and incurred, this website will be updated accordingly with specific policy positions that form the basis of the spending. Information regarding Western Digital's trade and industry association memberships can be found here: 2021 Trade Associations and 2022 Trade Associations.