IPG founder Valentin Gapontsev dies at 82

Photo | Courtesy of IPG Photonics Valentin Gapontsev, the late founder, CEO, and chairman of IPG Photonics

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Valentin Gapontsev, founder, chairman, and former CEO of IPG Photonics in Oxford, has died at the age of 82, the company announced Monday morning.

A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

Gapontsev founded what would become IPG in 1990, and has served as the company’s chairman since its inception. He served as CEO until April of this year, when he was replaced by Eugene Scherbakov, the company’s chief operating officer and managing director of IPG Laser GmbH, senior vice president, Europe and director.

“Valentin’s passing is a tremendous loss for the IPG community and the larger photonics world. Valentin’s technical innovations, strategic vision for the capabilities of fiber lasers and entrepreneurial drive transformed the laser industry and industrial automation to the point where lasers are finally cost-effective, reliable and effective tools that have mass applications in global industrial production,” Scherbakov said in a statement. “Recognized as the Father of the Fiber Laser Industry, his leadership and unique strategies enabled IPG to be at the forefront of rapid technological developments, and will continue to inspire us to strive for greatness in all that we do.”

Under Gaptonsev’s leadership, IPG grew to employ 6,000 people across more than 30 facilities worldwide.

Gapontsev was a highly successful businessman, reportedly worth $2.8 billion, according to the 2021 Forbes billionaire list. According to IPG, he is the named inventor on over 100 patents and over 200 scientific papers.

During his career, he received a myriad of accolades for his work and achievements. Among them, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Industrial Products and Services in New England in 2006, and in 2009, he was awarded the Arthur L. Schawlow Award by the Laser Institute of America. In 2011, he received the Russian Federation National Award in Science and Technology.

A replacement chairman for the company was not immediately announced.