Silicon Systems Chief Gives Up Post of President

Carmelo J. Santoro, chief executive of Silicon Systems Inc., said Wednesday that he is turning over his post of president and is stepping down from day-to-day management of the semiconductor company he has run for nearly a decade.

Santoro said Alan V. King, a former executive at a Silicon Valley semiconductor firm, will join the company Monday as president and chief operating officer. King will assume all day-to-day operating responsibilities for the company, which makes customized semiconductor chips.

Santoro said he will remain as chairman and chief executive of the company and will focus his attention on quality issues, management training, corporate strategies, acquisitions and alliances.

“In a sense, this is momentous because the company has gotten big enough for two people to run it,” Santoro said. “I’m going to stay as long as I’m wanted, needed and loved. I want to work at a slower pace than in the past decade.”

Santoro, 50, joined Silicon Systems as a director in 1981 and became president of the company in September, 1982. The privately held company has 2,000 employees and was purchased by Tokyo-based TDK Corp. in 1989 for more than $200 million.

Santoro said King, former vice president and division manager at Analog Devices in Santa Clara, was selected after a six-month search for a president.