President & Chief Executive Officer

In April 2004, the board of directors of Seagate Technology announced the planned succession of Bill Watkins to president and chief executive officer.

Watkins was promoted from his former position as president and chief operating officer, which he had held since June 2000. During that time, Watkins was responsible for the company’s hard disc drive operations, including recording heads, media and other components, and related R&D and product development organizations.

Watkins joined Seagate in 1996 with the company’s merger with Conner Peripherals. In 1990, Watkins established the Conner Disk Division and managed its success through the merger with Seagate. Prior to joining Conner Peripherals, Watkins held executive positions with Domain Technology, where he managed the MINT (Magnetic Information Technology) disc media manufacturing process.

Watkins graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Texas. He currently serves on the board of directors of Seagate, Iolon, Inc., and MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. He also serves on the Executive Advisory Council for IDEMA and the Executive Advisory Board of Juran Center for Leadership in Quality.