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PLX Technology, Inc. announced that it has selected Ralph Schmitt, a 25-year semiconductor and systems business veteran, as the new President, CEO and member of the company’s board of director’s effective 3 November. Schmitt is succeeding Mike Salameh, who was co-founder and CEO of PLX since 1986. Although retiring, Salameh will continue as a full-time employee for a short transition period and remain as a member of the board of directors.

Schmitt has most recently served as a consultant for various venture capitalists and acted as CEO of Legend Silicon. From 1999 to 2005, Schmitt was the Executive VP of Sales, Marketing and Business Development at Cypress Semiconductor. He has also served on the boards at Cypress subsidiaries and other privately held semiconductor and systems companies. Between 2005 and 2007, he was CEO of Sipex, which merged with Exar in 2007. Once the merger was complete, Schmitt was CEO of Exar until 2007.

“I am very excited to be joining PLX Technology,” said Schmitt. “The Company has built a leadership position in PCI Express, which we expect to be a foundation technology for a wide variety of electronic systems for years to come. PLX has a highly skilled workforce, management team and blue-chip list of customers to support future growth and new opportunities. I look forward to leading the business through its future stages of development.”

Schmitt graduated with a B.A. in electrical engineering from Rutgers University and began his professional career as a computer and communications hardware designer.