Ajay Shah President and CEO, SMART Global Holdings

SMART Global Holdings, Inc. announced that its current executive chairman, Ajay Shah, has agreed to accept the full-time position as the next president and CEO of SMART and will continue as the COB.

As previously announced, Iain MacKenzie will remain on the board of directors and will continue as co-CEO until the transition to Shah is complete.

“After a thorough evaluation process, the board is pleased Ajay will assume leadership of this world-class organization,” said Jason White, chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. “Ajay’s deep industry knowledge and institutional tenure with SMART and its customers, suppliers, and global operations make him uniquely qualified to lead the company into the future. Ajay’s investing and M&A experience also fits well with the company’s strategic plans for diversification and expansion.”

“I am honored and excited about the opportunity to lead this exceptional organization,” said Shah. “SMART is well positioned to continue the great progress achieved over the years under Iain’s leadership and I look forward to working closely with the board and the entire SMART team. This is a terrific opportunity to build further on the tremendous company that Iain and the team have developed.”

“I am very pleased that Ajay will be taking over as president and CEO,” said MacKenzie.  “His strong technology background and long-standing involvement with SMART will be of great value to our shareholders, our employees and to our business partners.”

“After more than 20 years of service at SMART, including 13 years as CEO, I am excited to assist in this transition and to continue to be engaged as a director and a resource for the company in the years to come,” he continued. “SMART has an excellent team in place and is well positioned to make great strides forward in the coming years. It has been an honor to work with the fantastic people at SMART and to help the company achieve so much success.“

“We look forward to working with Ajay in his new capacity as president and CEO of SMART and supporting the further development of the+ company’s strategies,” said Ken Hao, a managing partner of Silver Lake and member of SMART’s board of directors.

Shah co-founded SMART Modular Technologies, SMART’s predecessor company, in 1988 and served as CEO and COB until 2000 when it was acquired by Solectron Corporation. He has served as SMART’s COB since its spin-off from Solectron in April 2004.

He has been involved in technology investing, merger and acquisitions and private equity since 2002 when he founded the private equity firm Shah Capital Partners. He joined Silver Lake, a global investment firm, in 2007, and is the co-founder and managing partner of Silver Lake Sumeru. Since 2014, he has also served as a senior operating partner of Sumeru Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm.

He is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, serves on the boards of National Audubon Society and The Indian School of Business, India and is a trustee of the American India Foundation. He also serves on a number of private company boards.

He has a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Baroda, India and an M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University.