Scott Wharton quits Logitech to lead solar energy startup

Logitech’s vice-president and general manager of B2B, Scott Wharton, has left the company to pursue a long-held dream of working in the solar energy industry.

Wharton – who spent almost eight years with the company, including more than seven as vice-president and general manager of its Video Collaboration Group – has joined start up Tandem PV as chief executive.

“In nearly eight years at Logitech, we took a relatively small [$62m year] business and expanded it to over $1 billion annually,” he said in a LinkedIn post. “We went from a bit industry player in video conferencing to the undisputed worldwide leader with 32% revenue market share and 40% by units.

"It’s been a fantastic run and I’m incredibly proud of my track record and impact on the world in making voice calling essentially free, helping transition the world’s telecom infrastructure from hardware to software/cloud. We redefined what it means to have a meeting and changed the direction around the future of work."

Wharton added: "[Working in the solar industry] has been a dream long in the making. During business school in my 20s, while my classmates were pursuing lucrative careers in investment banking and management consulting, I took an unusual path: a summer internship for the Solar Energy Industries Association. I fell in love with the solar and renewable-energy industry and tried every angle to land a full-time job in that space.

"Flash forward to today and the solar industry is booming, mainstream and the lowest-cost energy solution around. Tandem PV has a market leadership position in a new and disruptive technology called perovskites, which nearly all in the solar industry agree is the next generation and a leap forward.

"This is a game-changing technology that the world needs and I’ll be doing my part to accelerate this transformation to a carbonless economy."

Meanwhile, Logitech's president and chief executive, Bracken Darrell, is also leaving the company to pursue another opportunity.

Darrell, who has been chief executive for 10 years, will hand over to board member Guy Gecht who will act as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is appointed.