Mastercard's Chief Legal Officer Rob Beard Departs for Coherent Group

Mastercard’s chief legal officer, Rob Beard, has departed after just over a year in the role to join Coherent Group, a Pennsylvania-based laser technology company. Beard's new position at Coherent will be as chief legal and global affairs officer, where he will manage all legal matters and related issues. He succeeds Ron Basso, who is retiring after nearly seven years at the company.

In response to Beard’s departure, Mastercard has promoted Tiffany Hall to general counsel. Hall, who has been with Mastercard for more than a decade, had most recently served as general counsel for the Americas region. She steps into the role after several legal positions at the company, succeeding Beard, who himself had replaced Richard Verma in 2023.

Beard’s move to Coherent comes after nine years at Micron Technology, where he held several legal roles, including almost three years as general counsel. Before that, he worked in private practice at Weil Gotshal & Manges and Shearman & Sterling.

At Coherent, Beard will be tasked with overseeing legal matters for a company specializing in components for networking equipment, optics, lasers, and specialty materials. Alongside Beard’s appointment, Coherent has also promoted Marie Batz Martin to chief compliance officer, a role in which she will report directly to Beard.

Basso’s retirement follows a career that included leadership roles at IT company Black Box and nearly 30 years at the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.

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