March 5 (Reuters) - Western Digital ( WDC ) on Tuesday

named chief executives for its soon-to-be separated flash memory

and traditional hard-disk drive (HDD) businesses and said the

process was on track for completion in the second half of 2024.

Irving Tan, executive vice president of global operations,

will take the helm at the remaining standalone HDD company that

will operate as Western Digital ( WDC ), the company said.

Meanwhile, current company CEO David Goeckeler has been

named chief executive designate for the flash memory business.

Last year in October, the data storage products maker

announced a plan to spin off its memory business that would

create two publicly traded firms, after talks of merging the

unit with Japan's Kioxia stalled.

The planned split clears years of uncertainty over

Western Digital's ( WDC ) flash memory unit that was built through its

$19 billion purchase of SanDisk in 2016 and caters to the

smartphone and computer industries.

The move to split Western Digital ( WDC ), also proposed by New

York-based activist investor Elliott Investment Management, will

leave the company with its traditional HDD business.

In 2022, Elliott had pushed the company that makes hard

drives, USB drives and memory cards to conduct a strategic

review and split off its flash memory business.