Meade Chairman and CEO to Resign

The founder of telescope manufacturer Meade Instruments Corp., who headed the Irvine company for most of its 31-year history, will resign as chairman and chief executive effective May 31.

John Diebel, 59, will remain a director and become a consultant for Meade, which he founded in 1972, the company announced Monday.

Diebel said it was the “right time” for him to step down, citing his 60th birthday in July and confidence in the men who will take over the company.

Steven G. Murdock, president and chief operating officer since 1990, will replace Diebel as CEO. Harry L. Casari, a director since 1997, will assume the title of chairman.

Meade’s off-the-shelf telescopes have become favorites for serious amateur astronomers. Diebel’s vision for technical superiority in his company’s telescopes “allow people to see a tremendous amount of our universe,” said Jerry Keegan, regional marketing manager for Scope City stores in Southern California and Las Vegas.

Diebel “brought affordability,” Keegan added. “He brought the ability to lift the masses into doing a tremendous amount of astronomy and research.”

An electrical engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co. in 1972, Diebel started Meade with a $2,500 loan from the Hughes credit union.

Diebel sold the company in 1986 for $6.5 million. But when the company began to founder and came close to bankruptcy in 1991, Diebel and several others bought back the company for $1,000.

In 1997, Meade went public, selling shares at $7 each in its initial public stock offering. Prices have gradually slipped and have lost 35% in the last year.

Meade shares closed down 14 cents at $2.74 Monday on Nasdaq.

Meade, which reported about $95 million in sales in 2002, supplies more than 50 models of telescopes to retailers ranging from Discovery Channel stores to Wal-Mart.

The company employs 500 people worldwide.

Meade will announce fiscal fourth-quarter and year-end earnings today.