---
title: "Synaptics' books now rest on a retired accountant brought back to see out the sale"
description: "Synaptics' principal accounting officer resigns October 28, the second senior finance departure since August, and no one new is being hired into either role. The edge-AI chipmaker onsemi is buying for $123 a share in cash still has to produce clean, on-time numbers to a mid-2027 close, and a CEO doubling as finance chief plus a rehired retiree now carry that."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-15T22:39:40.703Z
modified: 2026-10-15T22:39:40.703Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/synaptics-books-now-rest-on-a-retired-accountant-brought-back-to-see-out-the-sale
language: en
keywords: "Synaptics, Onsemi, M&A, Accounting, Semiconductors, Corporate Governance"
---

# Synaptics' books now rest on a retired accountant brought back to see out the sale

> Synaptics' principal accounting officer resigns October 28, the second senior finance departure since August, and no one new is being hired into either role. The edge-AI chipmaker onsemi is buying for $123 a share in cash still has to produce clean, on-time numbers to a mid-2027 close, and a CEO doubling as finance chief plus a rehired retiree now carry that.

[Synaptics](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/synaptics) [filed a Form 8-K with the SEC on October 15](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/817720/000081772026000081/0000817720-26-000081-index.htm) that deserves more attention than a personnel item usually gets [1]. The company, the San Jose chip designer whose edge-AI processors [onsemi](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/onsemi) [agreed to buy for $123 a share in cash](https://theinference.org/article/onsemi-pays-123-a-share-in-cash-to-keep-synaptics-away-from-a-nameless-rival), is losing the executive who runs the accounting behind its reported numbers: [Esther Song](https://theinference.org/markets/people/esther-song), corporate controller and principal accounting officer, resigned October 13 and leaves October 28 [1][2]. Her replacement is Kermit Nolan, 67, who retired from Synaptics at the end of 2023 after two decades there and returned as a consultant in June [1].

The risk in this deal has quietly moved from the buyer's financing to the seller's back office.

## Two departures, and no one is being hired

Chief Financial Officer [Ken Rizvi](https://theinference.org/markets/people/ken-rizvi) [resigned on August 20, effective immediately](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/817720/000081772026000061/syna-20260820.htm) [3]. Synaptics chose not to search for a successor with the merger pending, so Rahul Patel, its president and CEO, has served as principal financial officer since, at no additional pay [3].

Nolan signed a consulting agreement on June 10 to support the internal finance organization, became an employee on September 1 after the CFO's exit, and now adds the accounting-officer role, again without additional compensation [1]. Both filings state the resignations had nothing to do with any disagreement over the company's accounting [1][3].

| Role | Who left | Effective | Now held by | Extra pay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chief financial officer | Ken Rizvi | August 20, 2026, immediately | Rahul Patel, president and CEO | None |
| Corporate controller and principal accounting officer | Esther Song | October 28, 2026 | Kermit Nolan, 67, rehired retiree | None |

*Both exits were disclosed in 8-K filings; neither role is being refilled, and neither replacement draws additional compensation. Sources: Synaptics filings of August 21 and October 15, 2026.*

Read in order, the two filings describe consolidation ahead of a sale. Two senior finance roles have emptied since August, and each time the work passed to someone already in the building.

## No earnings calls, so the filings carry everything

[The amended merger agreement, announced October 1](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/onsemi-synaptics-announce-revised-merger-203400670.html), switched onsemi's June 25 all-stock deal to cash after [an unsolicited competing proposal](https://theinference.org/article/cirrus-logic-confirms-it-bid-for-synaptics-and-walked-away-onsemi-is-paying-123-a-share-in-cash) [2][4]. [Cirrus Logic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/cirrus-logic), another chipmaker, [confirmed in a filing of its own on October 13](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/772406/000077240626000047/crus-20261013.htm) that it made those proposals and is no longer pursuing a transaction [5]. The US Federal Trade Commission, the country's antitrust regulator, has already cleared the deal; regulators in other jurisdictions are still reviewing it, Synaptics shareholders still vote, and closing is targeted for mid-2027 [2].

While the deal pends, Synaptics is holding no earnings calls and giving no financial outlook, so its filings are the only financial visibility anyone gets [4]. [The June quarter's reported net loss was driven by a $425 million non-cash write-down](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/synaptics-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-fiscal-2026-results-2026-08-06) of the company's US deferred tax assets, exactly the kind of judgment that sits with a principal accounting officer [4].

*Chart: **Synaptics' quarterly revenue is up about 30% from two years ago** Line chart of Synaptics' quarterly revenue from the quarter ended September 2023 to the quarter ended June 2026, rising from $237.7 million to $308 million.*

*Quarterly revenue in millions of US dollars, by calendar quarter. The June 2026 quarter's $308 million came alongside a net loss driven by a $425 million non-cash write-down of US deferred tax assets. Source: Synaptics, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved October 15, 2026. [6]*

## Whose money this moves

A Synaptics holder is owed the fixed cash price at close, so anything touching the timing or integrity of the target's numbers lands directly on that payout. An onsemi holder is spending $5.7 billion of cash and committed [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) debt on a promise of immediate accretion measured in non-GAAP earnings, a company-adjusted measure, and every input to that promise comes from the finance team that remains at Synaptics [2].

The earliest test is the next quarterly report: on time, signed by Patel and Nolan, clean in the tax line. Neither departure filing hints at accounting trouble, and both make plain that the team behind those signatures has been thinning since August.

## Takeaway

Synaptics has lost both its CFO and its principal accounting officer since August and is refilling neither role; a CEO doubling as finance chief and a rehired retiree must now sign clean, on-time numbers through a mid-2027 close.

## Sources

1. [SEC EDGAR, Synaptics Form 8-K, Item 5.02: principal accounting officer transition, filed October 15, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/817720/000081772026000081/0000817720-26-000081-index.htm)
2. [onsemi and Synaptics press release via Yahoo Finance, "onsemi and Synaptics Announce Revised Merger Agreement", October 1, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/onsemi-synaptics-announce-revised-merger-203400670.html)
3. [SEC EDGAR, Synaptics Form 8-K, Item 5.02: chief financial officer transition, filed August 21, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/817720/000081772026000061/syna-20260820.htm)
4. [Synaptics press release via Nasdaq, "Synaptics Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2026 Results", August 6, 2026](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/synaptics-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-fiscal-2026-results-2026-08-06)
5. [SEC EDGAR, Cirrus Logic Form 8-K, Item 7.01: confirmation of acquisition proposals for Synaptics, filed October 13, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/772406/000077240626000047/crus-20261013.htm)
6. [Synaptics, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000817720)


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Synaptics' books now rest on a retired accountant brought back to see out the sale — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/synaptics-books-now-rest-on-a-retired-accountant-brought-back-to-see-out-the-sale