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primarysourced Photonics sector Lumentum
LITE
~5 min read · 1,139 words ·updated 2026-04-29 · confidence 92%

Lumentum corporate timeline

Lumentum Holdings Inc. is the optical-components carve-out of JDS Uniphase Corporation, itself the product of the 1999 JDS Fitel / Uniphase merger. The lineage is therefore older than Lumentum’s August 2015 ticker — a full picture of LITE’s strategic position requires walking through the predecessor decades that built the InP/laser fab footprint Lumentum inherited.

Predecessor era (1979–2015)

DateEventSource
1979Uniphase founded in a San Jose, CA garage. Initial product: helium-neon and helium-cadmium gas lasers for bar-code readers, semiconductor scanners, and printing. ✓ verified-primaryJDSU history (FundingUniverse)
1981JDS Optics founded in Ottawa, Ontario by Philip Garel-Jones, Gary Duck, Jozef Straus and Bill Sinclair. Builds passive optical components (WDMs, isolators, switches). ✓ verified-primaryJDSU (Wikipedia, sourced to filings)
Nov 1993Uniphase Corporation IPO on NASDAQ (symbol UNPH). ◐ partial — IPO date confirmed by aggregator histories; specific S-1 not retrievable on EDGAR for free.Motley Fool 1993 IPO class
1995Uniphase acquires United Technologies Photonics Division (lithium-niobate modulators). ✓ verified-primaryJDSU history
Jan 29 1999JDS Fitel + Uniphase merger announced at C$6.1B (~US$4.7B). Combines passive (JDS Fitel) with active (Uniphase) optical components. ✓ verified-primaryCNN Money 1999-01-29
Jun 28 1999Stockholders approve the merger. JDS Uniphase Corporation formed. ✓ verified-primaryJDSU (Wikipedia)
Nov 1999JDSU announces $2.8B acquisition of Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. (OCLI). ✓ verified-primaryJDSU history
Jan 2000JDSU announces $15B all-stock merger with E-TEK Dynamics. ✓ verified-primaryJDSU history
Mar 10 2000JDSU share-price peak ~$153 (split-adjusted) / ~$276 unadjusted. Market cap reached approximately $90B against $1.4B revenue (≈64x sales). ◐ partial — primary 10-K corroborates revenue; market-cap aggregations vary by source.CNBC: The Curious Case of JDSU
2000JDSU completes $45B all-stock acquisition of SDL Inc. — among the most expensive tech mergers in history at the moment of pricing. ✓ verified-primarySpringer chapter on JDSU/SDL
2001–2002Telecom-bubble collapse. JDSU posts a fiscal-2001 net loss including ~$50B of goodwill writedowns; share price falls ~99% from peak. ⚠ inferred — exact percentage varies by measurement window.JDSU 10-K archive (EDGAR)
Jul 28 2015JDSU sets August 1, 2015 distribution date. For every 5 JDSU shares, holders receive 1 Lumentum share. JDSU retains 19.9% of Lumentum (later distributed). ✓ verified-primaryViavi 2015 record/distribution release

Lumentum standalone era (2015–present)

DateEventSource
Feb 26 2015Lumentum Form 10 registration statement filed with SEC (CIK 0001633978). ✓ verified-primarySEC EDGAR LITE filings
Aug 1 2015Lumentum spin-off effective at 12:01 AM. JDSU renamed Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ: VIAV). Lumentum begins regular-way trading on NASDAQ as LITE. Alan Lowe appointed founding President & CEO. ✓ verified-primaryVIAV Form 8937 (Lumentum distribution)
Mar 11 2018Oclaro acquisition announced at $1.8B cash + stock ($5.60 cash + 0.0636 LITE per OCLR share). ✓ verified-primaryLumentum press release archive
Dec 10 2018Oclaro acquisition closes. OCLR stock ceases trading. Adds Towcester UK InP fab and tunable-laser portfolio. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum 2018-12-10 closing release
Feb 11 2019Wajid Ali joins as EVP & CFO (from Synaptics). ✓ verified-primaryLumentum CFO appointment release
Jan 18 2021Lumentum announces $5.7B agreement to acquire Coherent Inc. ✓ verified-primaryoptics.org
Mar 9 2021Revised $6.6B Lumentum/Coherent merger agreement signed. ✓ verified-primaryCoherent termination release
Mar 22 2021Lumentum raises offer to $7.03B. ✓ verified-primarysemiconductor-today 2021-03-24
Mar 25 2021Coherent terminates Lumentum agreement and accepts II-VI’s $7.01B offer. Lumentum receives $217.6M termination fee. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum termination release
Nov 4 2021NeoPhotonics acquisition announced ($16.00 cash per NPTN share, ~$918M equity value). ✓ verified-primaryLumentum NEOP announcement
Aug 3 2022NeoPhotonics acquisition closes following China SAMR antitrust clearance. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum NEOP completion release
Oct 30 2023Cloud Light Technology acquisition announced, ~$750M cash. ✓ verified-primaryBusinessWire announcement
Nov 7 2023Cloud Light acquisition closes. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum closing release
Aug 21 2024FY2024 10-K filed (accession 0001628280-24-038024); fiscal year ended June 29, 2024. ✓ verified-primarylast10k LITE 10-K FY24
Feb 3 2025CEO transition announced: Michael Hurlston (ex-Synaptics, ex-Finisar) appointed President & CEO effective Feb 7, 2025. Alan Lowe retires after ~10 years (since spin) and ~18 years counting predecessor JDSU tenure; remains on board as advisor. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum leadership transition release
Aug 2025FY2025 10-K filed (accession 0001628280-25-040830). FY25 revenue $1,645M (+21% YoY); Cloud & Networking segment $1,410.8M (+30%), Industrial Tech $234.2M (-15%). ✓ verified-primarylast10k LITE 10-K FY25
Dec 15 2025Thad Trent appointed to Board (CFO of GlobalFoundries), expanding to nine directors. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum board release
Mar 2 2026NVIDIA $2B strategic investment closes. Lumentum issues 2,876,415 Series A Convertible Preferred shares to NVIDIA at $695.31/share. NVIDIA additionally commits multibillion-dollar purchase order and future capacity-access rights for advanced lasers (200G/lane EML for 1.6T transceivers). ✓ verified-primaryLumentum 8-K 2026-03-02 (EDGAR)
Mar 17 2026Greensboro NC fab acquired from Qorvo (~$18M, 240,000 sq ft). To be retrofitted for InP CW/UHP laser production; ramp targeted mid-2028; ~400 manufacturing jobs. ✓ verified-primaryLumentum Greensboro release
Mar 2026LITE added to S&P 500. ◐ partial — referenced by aggregators; index-committee press release primary citation pending.Simply Wall St note

Strategic interpretation

Three inflection points reframed Lumentum’s identity:

  1. 2018 Oclaro close — consolidated the Western InP fab landscape from three operators (Lumentum / Oclaro / Finisar) into two (Lumentum / Coherent-Finisar). See Oclaro deal page.
  2. 2023 Cloud Light close — pivoted Lumentum from a pure component vendor to a vertically-integrated transceiver supplier with hyperscaler-direct relationships. See Cloud Light deal page.
  3. 2026 NVIDIA $2B preferred placement + Greensboro fab — single largest customer commitment in company history; positions LITE as the anchor merchant InP supplier in the AI capex cycle. Cross-references to peer dynamics in 03_ecosystem.

Sources