Illumina CEO Francis deSouza unexpectedly announced his resignation on Sunday, marking a victory for activist investor Carl Icahn — and heightening expectations that the world’s leading gene sequencing company could unwind its controversial $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail.
Illumina had repurchased Grail, a cancer diagnostic test maker originally incubated inside Illumina, in 2021 despite opposition from U.S. and European antitrust regulators – a decision that prompted Icahn to pursue a proxy fight against deSouza’s inclusion on the Illumina board.
Illumina officials said on Sunday its board had accepted deSouza’s resignation and named Charles Dadswell, senior vice president and general counsel, as interim CEO.
DeSouza will stay on “in an advisory capacity” until July 31, the company statement said. He has been with Illumina since 2013 and has served as chief executive since 2016.
Wall Street reacted positively to the news, sending Illumina shares 2.2% higher to $204.98 in premarket trading on Monday. The company’s stock has lost about 60% of its market cap since the Grail deal was completed in 2021.
Icahn said in a tweet on Sunday that he is happy with the recent changes at Illumina and considers deSouza’s departure a “very positive occurrence.”
The proxy battle, which began in March, ended with a vote last month in which Icahn won enough shareholder support to oust the board chair, John Thompson, and install his nominee, Andrew Teno.
Icahn has said he wants former Illumina CEO Jay Flatley to return to run the company.
