Gene sequencing test maker Illumina Inc. said Sunday that its board has accepted the resignation of its CEO and director, Francis deSouza, effective immediately.
Charles Dadswell, senior vice president and general counsel, has been named interim CEO, while the board conducts a search for a new CEO. Illumina said deSouza, who has been with the company since 2013 and was named CEO three years later, will stay on in an advisory capacity until July 31.
“Illumina’s technology remains at the forefront of DNA sequencing and has continued to set the pace for the industry,” Illumina's board chair, Stephen P. MacMillan, said in a statement. “We are confident Illumina can continue to execute on its goals, while we conduct and complete a CEO search process.”
The company, based in San Diego, said the board is looking at internal and external candidates.
The resignation comes as Illumina has been locked in a monthslong heated battle with activist investor Carl Icahn, over its $7.1 billion acquisition of cancer test maker Grail that has faced regulatory hurdles. Icahn had urged shareholders to vote out its chairman, John Thompson, and deSouza. Company shareholders voted out Thompson in late May.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
