The Information Technology 100
98
KLA-Tencor
This behind-the-scenes company has become essential to many chip makers, and it's easy to see why: With the world seeing all things digital, more and more chips are going into everything from automobiles to phones to music players. KLA-Tencor sells software, equipment, and services that guide chip production from beginning to end. Its products allow manufacturers to reduce the number of defects that occur during the process and yield more chips from those ever-expensive wafers. The San Jose-based company has beaten Wall Street's profit expectations a number of times, which has helped keep the company's stock near its 52-week high of $52.
Company Info
| STOCK INFO | KLAC |
| Revenues* | $2 BILLION
|
| Revenue Growth | 50.9%
|
| Return on Equity | 15.4%
|
| Total Return | -5.5%
|
| Profits* | $457.8 MILLION
|
| Industry | SEMICONDUCTORS
|
| CORPORATE WEB SITE
|
All figures are for the most recent available 12 months.
* Latest available data for the 12-month period ended Dec. 31, Jan. 31, Feb. 29, Mar. 31, or Apr. 30. For companies that do not report quarterly, the most recent annual data were used.
Data provided by Standard & Poor's Compustat, BusinessWeek
Related BW Stories
Company Snapshot
KLA-Tencor Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of yield management and process monitoring systems for the semiconductor manufacturing and related microelectronics industries. The company markets and sells its hardware consisting of patterned and unpatterned wafer inspection, optical overlay metrology, e-beam review, reticle and photomask inspection, spectroscopic and e-beam-based dimension metrology, and film and surface measurement tools, as well as its yield analysis and defect classification software. Its products provide fab-wide yield management solutions for the manufacturing process of cells used in integrated circuit production, including lithography, etch, deposition, and chemical mechanical planarization. KLA-Tencor’s products and services enable integrated circuit manufacturers to manage yield throughout the wafer fabrication process from research and development to final mass production yield analysis. In addition, it provides manufacturing with older technologies and refurbished KLA-Tencor certified tools. The company also provides other services, such as on-site repair, system installation, and educational services. It sells its products and services through direct sales force and distributors primarily in the United States and Japan, as well as in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. KLA-Tencor was formed in 1997 and is headquartered in San Jose, Calif.
No. of Employees
5,200
Data provided by 
Kenneth L. Schroeder
Bio
Kenneth L. Schroeder has been Chief Executive Officer and a Director of KLA-Tencor Corp. since July 1, 1999. Previously, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of KLA-Tencor (formerly KLA Instruments Corp.) for nearly eight years. Before that, Mr. Schroeder held a variety of senior management positions at KLA Instruments and other companies, including Operations Manager for Hewlett-Packard's Computer Group and General Manager of the Construction Systems Division of Spectra-Physics. Mr. Schroeder holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1994 and 1995, VLSI Research named him a "Most Valuable Executive" in its annual list of outstanding contributors in the semiconductor capital equipment industry. In 1998, the University of Wisconsin also recognized Mr. Schroeder with the Distinguished Service Award from its College of Engineering. During his career, Mr. Schroeder has served on the boards of several companies, including Adept Technology, Photon Dynamics, Gasonics International (now part of Novellus Systems), KLA-Tencor, SEMI-SEMATECH and SEMI.
AGE: 59
Titles
President and Chief Executive Officer
Total Compensation*
$ 1.8 MILLION
Total Value of Options**
$ 34.9 MILLION
Degrees Held
NA
* Latest available fiscal year
** The sum of the net value of options exercised and held in the latest available fiscal year
Key Executives
Kenneth L. Schroeder, John H. Kispert, Richard P. Wallace, Dennis J. Fortino, Gary E. Dickerson
Board Members
Kenneth L. Schroeder, Edward W. Barnholt, Stephen P. Kaufman, H. Raymond Bingham, Robert T. Bond, Richard J. Elkus, Jr., Michael E. Marks, Kenneth Levy, Jon D. Tompkins, Lida Urbanek
