Angeion Corp. (NASDAQ: ANGN), a medical device company based in St. Paul, Minn., has fired its chief financial officer, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
William J. Kullback, a senior vice president and Angeion’s No. 2 corporate officer behind CEO Rodney Young, will be replaced on an interim basis by corporate controller Larry Degen, the company said.
“Angeion Corporation has terminated the employment of its chief financial officer, William J. Kullback, effective July 9, 2010,” the SEC filing said. “The termination of Mr. Kullback is not related to any issue with respect to the company’s financial statements.”
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Normally, when a company pushes out a top executive, the usual reasons range from “spending more time with the family” or “left to pursue other interests.” But the short, blunt statement, which includes two references to termination, suggests a not so amicable breakup.
Calls to Angeion were not immediately returned.
Since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002, the company has struggled. Angeion, which makes and sells cardiorespiratory diagnostic devices under the brand names of MedGraphics and New Leaf, has lost money for two consecutive years, dropping $1.6 million last year and $686,000 in 2008.
For the six months this year, Angeion already lost $1.4 million on sales of $13.5 million compared to a loss of $847,000 on sales of $12.6 million during the same period a year ago.
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Angeion generates about $25 million in annual sales and employs 130 workers.
Kullback joined the company just two years ago after co-founding Flex Fund Financial. He earned $200,000 a year with potential bonus payments of 17.5 percent to 50 percent of his annual salary if the company hit certain financial goals, according to SEC filings.
Had Angeion terminated Kullback without cause, which seems highly unlikely, the company would have paid Kullback a lump sum of nine months of his base salary plus bonuses based on financial performance.
