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T.J. Rodgers Appointed Enovix Executive ChairmanFREMONT, Calif., Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enovix Corporation (“Enovix”) (Nasdaq: ENVX), the leader in the design and manufacture of next generation 3D Silicon™ Lithium-ion batteries, today announced that T.J. Rodgers has been appointed Executive Chairman, effective immediately. Rodgers holds 21.4 million shares of Enovix and was a buyer ($3.5 million) in May when the stock dropped into the $8.85 range. Rodgers said, “Our board has by design several successful operating executives, who are committed to spend whatever time is required at Enovix to ensure the Company’s operational success. Our team has and will continue to put in significant extra effort until that task is completed, which it is not. In addition to me, the Enovix board contains Manny Hernandez, formerly the CFO of both Cypress and SunPower; Dan McCranie, formerly the EVP of Cypress Sales and Marketing, and Chairman of both Freescale Semiconductor and ON Semiconductor; and Greg Reichow, former Cypress and SunPower manufacturing executive who built and ran multiple SunPower and Tesla manufacturing plants. We are silicon and Moore’s Law operations people and comprehend the sea-change opportunity Enovix and its technology offer.” Rodgers continued, “Investors might well ask ‘With all that expert help, why did ENVX stock just drop 42%, to $10.74 in the last week, after an unexpectedly poor quarterly report?’ The answer is that we lowered our 2023 revenue projection in a confusing manner that erroneously implied that there were bigger problems with our technology. Our revenue projections were lowered because our Fab-1 manufacturing ramp was delayed in our first year of production. This is an unacceptable execution problem which I will discuss. “However, as I look back on the decisions the company made, I would make the same calls again. For example, when Harrold Rust called me and said that Enovix Fab-1 would be delayed by at least three months due to the COVID-related shipping malaise unless we spent $1.4 million to charter the world’s largest airplane, a Ukrainian AN-124, to fly over 55 tons of Fab-1 equipment to Silicon Valley in one shot, I said, ‘Brilliant, do it.’ Our decision violated our sacred Equipment Procurement Review (EPR) specification by waiving a key milestone called Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), which required that a team of Enovix engineers fly to multiple Chinese factories, and personally observe each piece of Fab-1 equipment running at full speed before we approved shipment. But those factories stopped receiving guests due to COVID, and we decided to waive the FAT milestone and catch up later. “The catch up would have occurred at the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) milestone, which required their engineers to come to Enovix to demonstrate full functionality, but the equipment vendors were not allowed to travel and we installed our equipment with our employees and local contractors. We are still paying for the months we gained and then gave back due to equipment problems. In my new position, I will have the time to create better strategic decisions. I cannot promise that we will not be surprised technically, but I can promise there will be fewer unforced execution errors.” Rodgers continued, “My appointment in no way implies that we intend to micromanage the Company. The board’s objective has always been to guide the company to become a successful public company ? not micromanage it. I plan to initiate and directly manage some key upstream strategi business decisions that are new to the young management team. My first order of business will be to address three problems concerning shareholders: Problem 1: The lack of clear and transparent investor communications. I have worked with the Enovix team for ten years. It has always been honest. Yet, we must improve the clarity of our communications. I am going to be present and comment during quarterly reports to shareholders. Then, before leaving this job, I will install a known-effective business process to efficiently prepare high-quality quarterly reports and conference calls. Within a few weeks, I will bring investors up to date with a special presentation. Problem 2: The delay and projected underperformance of Fab-1. We have poorly communicated on the status of Fab-1. I have heard from many investors that the delay and projected underperformance of Fab-1 must be the result of some catastrophic technology problem. For the record: Fab-1 is going to work and ship a lot of batteries to our customers ? period. I will personally be in all Fab-1 reviews, because Fab-1 is not only critical to the Company, but also to our customers, some of whom are designing products right now that could not exist without Enovix battery performance. Problem 3: The delay of the Gen2 autoline, the Enovix “copy exact” engine for economic scaling. An astute investor tracked me down on my car phone just before the Enovix board meeting last Friday. His question was, ‘What’s holding up the Gen2 line?’ My answer was, ‘T.J. Rodgers.’ The management team at Enovix is laser-focused on quickly placing the rest of the Gen2 purchase orders, but I have demanded detailed proof that the team is rigorously following the EPR process before I allow those POs to go to the board (that’s the “Executive” part of my new title). I believe this intervention will put Gen2 online sooner at a higher level of performance.” Rodgers concluded, “We have $349 million of your dollars left and that money will produce world-record batteries in Fab-1 and create the first Gen2 line. “By the way, the next battery shipped from Fab-1 will be serial number 4,163 (with zero returns), and I am proud of that.” About Enovix Forward Looking Statements For investor inquiries, please contact: Enovix Corporation The Blueshirt Group For media inquiries, please contact: Enovix Corporation |