SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT,
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS AND STRATEGY
FIRST SOLAR

Ross is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development/M&A and Strategy at First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), the world’s largest manufacturer of thin film solar, PV project developer and EPC company with annual revenues of approximately $4 billion.  Ross leads the company’s global marketing, strategic planning and transaction functions including responsibility for corporate and M&A strategy and identification, evaluation, negotiation and integration of all acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic investments.

During his tenure, First Solar has completed seven acquisitions, several joint ventures and a Series D investment in a strategic partner, deploying $1 billion of capital which resulted in the development, construction and financing of the largest utility-scale solar project pipeline in the world (3,000 megawatts, $8 billion of project financing) and the expansion of the company’s capabilities from manufacturing to EPC, project development and power plant system operation and maintenance.

Prior to First Solar, Ross ran a division of Danaher, an $16b diversified industrial technology company.  At Danaher, Ross held several executive management roles including operating responsibility for a $500 million global business as well as VP, Marketing for a $1 billion division and Group VP, Strategy and Business Development, where he executed several billion dollars of acquisitions.

Prior to Danaher, Ross led corporate development at Zebra Technologies, where he founded and built the M&A function and led the company’s expansion into on-demand digital photo printing and radio frequency identification (RFID).

Prior to his corporate development experience, Ross was an investment banker in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Merrill Lynch and started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he conducted buy-side due diligence and valuation for corporate and private equity clients. Ross holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Accounting (and CPA) from University of Illinois.