Steve Milligan, President of Hitachi GST

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced the appointment of Stephen Milligan as President. He will continue to be based at the company’s San Jose, California headquarters.

Steve Milligan

Effective April 1, Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi GST, will remain as Chairman of Hitachi GST to further strengthen the Hitachi GST and Hitachi, Ltd. relationship, while he also assumes a key role at Hitachi, Ltd. as Executive Vice President responsible for Hitachi Group’s global strategy.

"Steve has been a key catalyst of Hitachi GST’s ongoing turnaround. He’s been instrumental in redefining our business model, increasing operational efficiency and overseeing our business transformation," said Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "As President, Steve will be responsible for maximizing our investments, while delivering long-term value to our customers and sustained growth for Hitachi GST."

Hiroaki Nakanishi continued: "Moving forward, I am also very excited about my new assignment within Hitachi, Ltd. I’ll be leveraging my experience from transforming Hitachi GST into a successful business as I work to position Hitachi Group as a thriving global company with extensive reach and range."

"Today’s moves are made in recognition of Hitachi GST’s outstanding performance and they are intended to strengthen the commitment between Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi GST," said Kazuo Furukawa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi, Ltd. "I am very pleased with Hiroaki Nakanishi’s turnaround of Hitachi GST and Steve Milligan’s executive leadership. Working together, they guided the company through its financial and business recovery. With the leadership team that Hitachi GST has in place, I feel confident that the business will continue to move forward with speed, focus and purpose."

Milligan will also retain the title of Hitachi GST Chief Financial Officer. As a 23-year veteran of the technology industry, Milligan brings a unique combination of experiences to his new position. Before joining Hitachi GST, Mr. Milligan was most recently senior vice president and CFO for Western Digital where he played a key role in helping the company deliver consistent profitability, diversify its revenue base and achieve industry-leading cash and asset efficiencies. Previously, Mr. Milligan worked in financial leadership positions at Dell and Price Waterhouse. At Price Waterhouse, he was responsible for auditing all of IBM’s
global operations, including IBM’s HDD business. His experience with
IBM and Dell also helped Steve develop a deep understanding of the PC industry. Mr. Milligan earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ohio State University
in 1985. In November 1985, he received the Elijah Watt Sells Award, which
recognizes Certified Public Accountant candidates with the highest achievements
on the Uniform CPA Examination.

Hitachi GST is making two other executive management changes to further strengthen the relationship
with Hitachi, Ltd:

• Effective April 1, Shinjiro Iwata, Executive Vice President of Hitachi GST has been named CEO of Service and Global Business for the Information and Telecommunication Systems Group of Hitachi, Ltd.
• Effective March 1, Masaya Watanabe will be joining Hitachi GST as Chief Strategist of Data Storage reporting to Steve Milligan. Previously, he was General Manager of the Enterprise Server Division within the Information & Telecommunication Systems Group at Hitachi, Ltd., where he arrives in 1982. He has a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering, University of Tokyo and a Master of Science in Management of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  
  Masaya Watanabe