FuelCell Names New CEO as Troubled Clean-Tech Company Retools

(Bloomberg) -- FuelCell Energy Inc. has named a new chief executive officer as the nearly insolvent clean-tech company pushes to reverse its fortunes.

Jason Few, a FuelCell board member, will take over the Danbury, Connecticut-based company on Aug. 26, according to a statement Tuesday. “In his past experience as a president and CEO, Few has developed strategic plans to capture growth” and led “a billion-dollar turnaround,” the company said. Fuel Cell fired its previous CEO in June.

Key Insights

• Few’s appointment comes as FuelCell ’s shares have plunged 98% in the last year, leaving it with a market value of $37 million. It hired restructuring officers in June and warned investors of substantial doubt that it can continue as a going-concern.
• Founded in 1969, Danbury, Connecticut-based FuelCell was a pioneer in commercializing devices that generate electricity through an electro-chemical process. But the technology has failed to compete with wind and solar.
• FuelCell hasn’t recorded an annual profit since 1997.

Market Reaction

• FuelCell shares sank as much as 9.3% to 33 cents a share.

Get More

• Link to company statement
• Exxon Throws Troubled Clean-Tech Company a $10 Million Lifeline
• FuelCell Energy Fires CEO Bottone as Market Value Crashes

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan

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