Ousted Emulex President Retained as a Consultant

Stephen W. Frankel, who was removed last month as president of Emulex Corp., has been retained by the Costa Mesa computer products firm as a paid consultant.

Frankel was replaced as president on Jan. 18 as part of a management shake-up and reorganization initiated by Emulex Chairman Fred B. Cox.

Cox, who assumed the additional title of president, also removed three Emulex vice presidents from their jobs.

Until Monday, Emulex officials had refused to comment on the status of Frankel and the three other executives, none of whom have reported to work since last month’s shake-up.

Emulex spokesman Edward Bright confirmed Monday that Frankel is no longer an Emulex employee but has been signed to a consulting contract. Bright said he did not have specific information on the type of consulting work Frankel is supposed to do.

Consolidating Groups

Neither Cox nor Frankel could be reached for comment Monday.

Last month, Cox announced that Emulex was consolidating its three product groups in order to focus on its traditional business as a manufacturer of add-on products for Digital Equipment computers. In recent years, Emulex had diversified into such areas as data communication equipment.

The Emulex spokesman also sought Monday to dispel rumors that the reorganization would lead to layoffs at the company.

“We’ve had some comments here that as a result of Steve no longer being president, it foretold a consolidation and layoffs,” Bright said. “The answer to that is categorically no.”

In fact, Emulex has been hiring sales people and engineers, Bright said.

Emulex has recently made a financial rebound after three years of flat sales and declining earnings. For the six-month period ended last Dec. 27, the company’s revenues rose 16% to $59.2 million and earnings more than doubled to $3.9 million, when compared to year-ago results.