internal
Timothy M. Archer
President & Chief Executive Officer
Executive
7 yr
5 reports
Lam Research Corporation ·LRCX
COO succession preserves internal product leadership lineage
Technology · Fortune #295 · Functional structure · 17K employees · Fremont, California
5
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 9)
3
Avg span
moderate
2
Max depth
2 levels
4.6 yr
Avg tenure
60%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-06-29 · 10-K
Revenue
$18.4B
Operating income
$5.9B
Net income
$5.4B
Total assets
$21.3B
Shares out
1.27B
Sourced from Lam Research Corporation DEF 14A · filed 2025-09-24 ↗ View on SEC
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Lam Research Corporation organizational chart
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COO succession preserves internal product leadership lineage. This page maps Lam Research’s functional executive structure, highlights the recent COO transition, analyzes CEO span and depth, and compares Lam’s leadership model with key semiconductor equipment peers.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Patrick J. Lord departed as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Retired effective March 6, 2026 after more than two decades with the company (announced Feb 3, 2026).
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief AI Officer Introduce a Chief AI Officer reporting to the CEO to centralize AI strategy across products and operations.
- Eliminate COO Role Flatten the structure by removing the COO role and redistributing operations oversight to product and finance leaders.
Atlas work this supports
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The people
Who's running this
6 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Seshasayee (Sesha) Varadarajan
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Operations
0 yr
0 reports
Open Role
Senior Vice President, Global Products Group
Products
0 yr
0 reports
internal
Douglas R. Bettinger
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Finance
12 yr
0 reports
Ava A. Harter
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary
Legal
2 yr
0 reports
Open Role
Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
Human Resources
0 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Timothy M. Archer $28.3M
- Base salary
- $1.24M
- Stock awards
- $24.10M
- Option awards
- $2.94M
- Other
- $22K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
Stock ownership requirements
5×CEO base salary
5×Director cash retainer
CEO and directors subject to stock ownership guidelines based on salary or retainer multiples.
The businesses
How Lam Research Corporation divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Operations
8K employees
Chief Operating Officer (Seshasayee Varadarajan)
Oversees manufacturing, supply chain, and global operations supporting Lam’s equipment portfolio.
Finance
900 employees
Chief Financial Officer (Douglas R. Bettinger)
Responsible for financial planning, accounting, tax, treasury, and investor relations.
Legal & Compliance
250 employees
Chief Legal Officer (Ava A. Harter)
Manages corporate governance, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, and litigation.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
The most distinctive feature of Lam Research’s structure is its COO succession that preserved deep internal product leadership rather than inserting an external operator.
The COO role transitioned directly from Patrick J. Lord to Sesha Varadarajan, a 25-year company veteran who previously ran the Global Products Group.
Structurally, Lam operates a classic functional model, with the CEO overseeing finance, legal, operations, products, and people as parallel pillars. The absence of separate divisional CEOs or segment presidents keeps P&L authority concentrated at the top, reinforcing tight operational and technology integration across wafer fabrication equipment lines.
This structure supports Lam’s engineering-driven culture but increases CEO span and dependency on strong functional leaders, particularly in operations and products, which together carry the bulk of execution risk.
- COO promoted from Global Products Group
- No divisional CEOs or segment presidents
- High reliance on long-tenured internal leaders
The comparison
How Lam Research Corporation stacks up
Compared with peers like Applied Materials and KLA, Lam Research maintains a slightly leaner C-suite with fewer product-line presidents. Applied Materials uses more explicit business-unit leadership, while KLA emphasizes technology group heads. Lam’s internal-promotion-heavy leadership pipeline resembles KLA more than …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Lam Research Corporation
2 levels
4 levels
4 levels
ASML
5 levels
Tokyo Electron
5 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Has COO / Has CAIO
Lam Research Corporation ✓ COO — no CAIO
ASML — no COO — no CAIO
Tokyo Electron ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
Lam elevated long-tenured product leader Sesha Varadarajan to COO following Patrick Lord’s retirement.
- departedPatrick J. Lord Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Retired effective March 6, 2026 after more than two decades with the company (announced Feb 3, 2026).
Source - promotedSeshasayee (Sesha) Varadarajan Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Promoted from SVP, Global Products Group effective March 6, 2026.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2025-09-24
- CEO
- Timothy M. Archer
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 6.2 yr
COO role still held by Patrick Lord prior to announced retirement.
Named executive officers (5)
- Timothy M. Archer - President & CEO since 2019
- Douglas R. Bettinger - EVP & CFO since 2013
- Patrick J. Lord - EVP & COO since 2012
- Ava A. Harter - SVP, Chief Legal Officer since 2024
- Seshasayee Varadarajan - SVP, Global Products Group since 2013
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Lam Research?
Timothy M. Archer has served as President and CEO since 2019.
What type of organizational structure does Lam Research use?
Lam Research operates a functional organizational structure with centralized executive control.
How many direct reports does Lam Research's CEO have?
The CEO has five direct executive reports.
How has Lam Research's leadership changed recently?
In 2026, longtime COO Patrick Lord retired and was succeeded by internal leader Sesha Varadarajan.
Does Lam Research have a COO?
Yes. Seshasayee (Sesha) Varadarajan became COO effective March 6, 2026.
Sources
- 8-K Filing, Feb 3, 2026
- SEC EDGAR: Lam Research Corporation DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Lam Research Corporation 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Lam Research Corporation organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/lam-research/MLA 9th
"Lam Research Corporation Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/lam-research/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Lam Research Corporation Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/lam-research/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Lam Research Corporation. DEF 14A. Filed 2025-09-24. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/707549/000114036125036012/ny20050572x2_def14a.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/lam-research/ · last updated 2026-04-01