BUILDING ON THE PAST, READY FOR THE FUTURE: - MEMC

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Hörde moved from COO to CEO in his place
and continued the processes initiated in the
Transformation program.
In June of 2000, Hüls’ parent company, VEBA
AG, merged with VIAG AG to form E.ON AG
and announced its intention to focus on its core
business of energy and specialty chemicals. A
majority shareholder of MEMC at the time, their
intention was to divest MEMC, among other
noncore businesses. In November of 2001, an
investor group led by Texas Pacific Group (TPG)
purchased E.ON AG’s interest in MEMC.
In April 2002, von Hörde retired, and Nabeel
Gareeb took the helm as president and CEO of
MEMC. Gareeb, formerly chief operating officer
of International Rectifier, a leading supplier of
power semiconductors and system solutions,
brought expertise in technology and operations
to MEMC along with his unique vantage point as
a former customer of the silicon wafer industry.
By this time in 2002, silicon wafer manufacturers
had consolidated to the point where four major
Crystal pulling floor at Spartanburg.
Group visiting Spartanburg plant, left to right: J. H. Mao, B.
wrather, C. B. Lee, K. Schriewer, L. Hand, P. Lupano, D. Hale,
B. Lukas, A. Bertoili, D. Hargett, M. S. Lin, D. Rice, K. Sasaki,
D. H. Suh, Lee wee Loke.
companies—MEMC, Shin-Etsu Handotai (SEH),
Sumitomo Mitsubishi, and Wacker—accounted
for more than 80 percent of wafer production.
As the market slowly began to show signs of
recovery, MEMC, under Gareeb’s unbridled
determination, reignited its focus on the
fundamentals: technological supremacy, meeting
and exceeding customer demands, and efficient
operations management. This back-to-basics