Aug 15 (Reuters) - Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd replaced its chief executive officer on Wednesday as China’s largest solar maker struggled to shore up finances amid a growing cash shortfall.
Suntech said founder and CEO Zhengrong Shi had been replaced by David King, the company’s chief financial officer. Shi’s chairman title will also be changed to executive chairman and he will take the position of chief strategy officer.
Shi, who founded Suntech in 2001, has been the most prominent of China’s solar entrepreneurs, building the company into the world’s largest panel maker by manufacturing capacity.
Its disclosure at the end of July that it had likely been defrauded by a partner raised new fears that it may struggle to cover a convertible bond due in early 2013.
A spokesman for the company in Shanghai said executive moves were not related to the disclosures about the potential fraud by its partner, or its current financial situation.
“Dr. Shi has personally been considering this transition for some time. The new management structure will free up Dr. Shi to focus on strategy and key relationships with the government, customers, banks and vendors,” Rory Macpherson, director of investor relations, said in an email.