CEO David Reis will retire at the end of June from day-to-day operations at Stratasys, the 3-D printing and manufacturing solutions company.
He will be replaced by Ilan Levin, the former president of Objet, the Rehovot, Israel-based firm that merged with Stratasys in December 2012, the company said Thursday. Levin will be based in Israel.
Reis has been chief executive of Stratasys since March 2009 and will continue to lead the board of directors.
He oversaw the all-stock merger deal with Objet, a global maker of Polyjet 3-D printers, and is credited with developing a broad, solutions-based business model that targets new manufacturing applications.
But Stratasys, which now is based dually in Eden Prairie and Israel, also struggled under Reis' watch as a rash of competitors entered the once-novel 3-D printing market.
Two years ago, it botched the rollout of its emerging consumer line of desktop 3-D printers at Staples and other retailers, with products that were roiled with defects. The costly malfunctions caused Stratasys to take huge charges and lay off staff.
The company lost $1.4 billion in 2015, the largest figure among publicly traded Minnesota companies.
Wall Street welcomed Thursday's news, as Stratasys stock rose 41 cents to $23.29.
Stratasys officials declined to make either executive available for an interview.
In a statement, board chairman Elan Jaglom thanked Reis for guiding the company "through a period of extraordinary growth."
"He is also responsible for initiating a critical business transformation designed to support our long-term leadership in the prototyping market while expanding into applications for manufacturing," Jaglom said.
In the company's announcement, Reis described Levin as "an additive manufacturing pioneer." He predicted a "seamless transition" and expressed confidence in Levin's ability to lead the company into the future.
Levin has been a board member of Objet since 2000, and served as president and vice chairman of the board before the Stratasys merger.
According to Stratasys' website, Levin has been involved in venture capital and private equity investment activity since 1997, and served as a board member or adviser for a variety of technology-related companies.
He was CEO of CellGuide Ltd., a semiconductor company, from 2003 to 2009.
Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335
