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IQE finance chief killed in holiday road accident
Phillip Rasmussen, chief financial officer of IQE Plc, was killed while cycling in Minorca by an American man, who has since been arrested for drink driving.
Welshman Rasmussen, who was aged 47, died instantly when his bike was hit from behind when out on coastal ride on Sunday morning.
Rasmussen was married with three children. He has been on the board of Cardiff-based semiconductor wafer maker IQE since 2007.
Spanish police arrested a 25-year-old American after he failed a breath test, The Times reported, with a reading of 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres that exceeded the legal limit in Spain of 25. The legal limit in England and Wales is 35.
IQE makes components for Apple, including technology used by the 3D-sensing camera of the iPhone X. The technology firm recently reported an 18% rise in profits for 2017.
IQE president Drew Nelson said: "The news of Phil's death has shocked and distressed all of us at IQE. The tragedy, of course, will be most deeply felt by Phil's family, who we send our heartfelt condolences to at this terrible time. It is also a tragedy for so many of us who considered Phil a friend as much as a colleague.
"Phil was a great colleague and an accomplished CFO. He made the role his own, contributing so much over his ten years with us to IQE's current strength; to the detailed and principled way we do things; to the potential we see before us as a firm. It has been my great privilege to work with Phil, to benefit from his good judgement and to count him as a very close friend. We will do everything we possibly can to preserve his legacy at IQE and continue with the shining example he has set for all of us."
IQE said non-executive chairman Godfrey Ainsworth will become executive chairman and concentrate on investor and external relations, while also providing oversight support on an interim basis to the finance team which is headed by group finance director Neil Rummings.