Irving Tan
Chief Executive Officer
Executive
1 yr
8 reports
Western Digital Corporation ·WDC
Post‑SanDisk separation leaves a tightly centralized executive core
Technology · Fortune #329 · Functional structure · 51K employees · San Jose, California
5
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 12)
2.3
Avg span
tight
3
Max depth
3 levels
1.8 yr
Avg tenure
0%
Internal hires
↓ below industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-06-27 · 10-K
Revenue
$9.5B
Operating income
$2.3B
Net income
$1.9B
Total assets
$14.0B
Shares out
347M
Sourced from Western Digital Corporation DEF 14A · filed 2025-10-06 ↗ View on SEC
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Western Digital operates a tightly centralized functional structure following the 2025 SanDisk separation, with a small executive core reporting to the CEO. This page details the current org structure, executive team, leadership changes, and how Western Digital compares with key storage and semiconductor 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 Brad Feller joined as SVP & Chief Accounting Officer
Appointed effective November 14, 2025.
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.
- Create COO Role Insert a Chief Operating Officer layer to reduce CEO span and integrate operations with supply chain execution.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
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- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
6 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
Vidyadhara K. Gubbi
Executive Vice President & Chief of Global Operations
Operations
2 yr
2 reports
Kris Sennesael
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Finance
1 yr
2 reports
Ahmed M. Shihab
Executive Vice President & Chief Product Officer
Product
1 yr
0 reports
Cynthia L. Tregillis
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary
Legal
4 yr
0 reports
Brad Feller
Senior Vice President & Chief Accounting Officer
Finance
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.
Irving Tan $11.5M
- Base salary
- $836K
- Bonus
- $61K
- Stock awards
- $8.49M
- Non-equity incentive
- $2.12M
- Other
- $27K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The businesses
How Western Digital Corporation divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Finance
1K employees
EVP & CFO (Kris Sennesael)
Oversees financial planning, accounting, treasury, and investor relations.
Global Operations
30K employees
EVP & Chief of Global Operations (V. K. Gubbi)
Manages manufacturing, supply chain, and global operations footprint.
Product & Engineering
8K employees
EVP & Chief Product Officer (Ahmed M. Shihab)
Responsible for HDD product strategy, roadmap, and engineering execution.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Western Digital’s most distinctive structural feature is how tightly centralized the executive team remains after the February 2025 SanDisk separation.
The CEO has a relatively small set of direct reports, with finance, operations, product, and legal each represented by a single executive rather than parallel business-unit leaders.
The structure is predominantly functional, reflecting Western Digital’s narrowed focus on HDD and mass storage following the spin‑off. Product and operations leadership carry disproportionate influence, while there is no separate COO role; instead, global operations are consolidated under the Chief of Global Operations. This design emphasizes execution discipline and cost control over divisional autonomy.
- No standalone COO role
- Highly centralized post‑spin structure
The comparison
How Western Digital Corporation stacks up
Compared with peers such as Seagate and Micron, Western Digital runs a leaner C‑suite with fewer business presidents and no regional CEOs. This contrasts with Samsung or Intel, which employ deeper divisional layers. The absence of a COO and CAIO also places Western Digital on the more traditional end of the spectrum …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Western Digital Corporation
3 levels
Seagate Technology
4 levels
5 levels
Samsung Electronics
6 levels
6 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Western Digital Corporation
2 yr
Seagate Technology
5 yr
Samsung Electronics
7 yr
4 yr
Has COO / Has CAIO
Western Digital Corporation — no COO — no CAIO
Seagate Technology ✓ COO — no CAIO
Samsung Electronics ✓ COO ✓ CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most significant recent change was the February 2025 separation of SanDisk, followed by the appointment of a new Chief Accounting Officer.
- new
- reorgSanDisk Separation Corporate Structure
Flash business separated into Sandisk on February 21, 2025.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2025-10-06
- CEO
- Irving Tan
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 1.8 yr
First full proxy after the SanDisk separation.
Named executive officers (5)
- Irving Tan - CEO since 2024
- Kris Sennesael - CFO since 2025
- Vidyadhara K. Gubbi - Chief of Global Operations since 2023
- Ahmed M. Shihab - Chief Product Officer since 2024
- Cynthia L. Tregillis - Chief Legal Officer since 2021
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Western Digital?
Irving Tan has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2024, leading the company through the post‑SanDisk separation period.
What type of organizational structure does Western Digital use?
Western Digital uses a primarily functional organizational structure with centralized control over finance, operations, product, and legal.
How many direct reports does Western Digital's CEO have?
The CEO has five direct reports, reflecting a relatively tight executive span.
How has Western Digital's leadership changed recently?
Key changes include the February 2025 SanDisk separation and the November 2025 appointment of a new Chief Accounting Officer.
Does Western Digital have a COO?
No. Operational responsibility is consolidated under the Executive Vice President and Chief of Global Operations.
Sources
- 8-K Filing, Nov 2025
- Company Filings, Feb 2025
- SEC EDGAR: Western Digital Corporation DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Western Digital Corporation 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
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APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Western Digital Corporation organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/western-digital/MLA 9th
"Western Digital Corporation Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/western-digital/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Western Digital Corporation Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/western-digital/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Western Digital Corporation. DEF 14A. Filed 2025-10-06. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/106040/000162828025044298/wdc-20251006.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/western-digital/ · last updated 2026-04-01