FREMONT, Calif., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Brian Harrison, chief executive officer for solar energy firm Solyndra has resigned, court papers filed in Delaware said.
In bankruptcy court amid controversy over the $535 million in government loan guarantees that failed to keep the company solvent, official filings say Harrison resigned last week, CNNMoney reported Thursday.
The company has asked the court's permission to replace Harrison with R. Todd Nielson, who would serve as a chief restructuring officer.
"The CRO will assist the debtors in their ongoing efforts to sell estate assets, winding down the debtors' operations following such sale or sales, and otherwise managing the cases," court filings say.
Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in August, putting the Obama administration on the defensive, with critics asserting the loan guarantees appear to have been misguided and even reckless.
At a congressional hearing in September, Harrison and Solyndra executive W.G. Stover testified they had done nothing wrong. However, they also used the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering several questions.
For a bankruptcy case, a CEO stepping aside is business as usual, said Jason Kilborn, a scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute.
"It's the rare Chapter 11 reorganization where the CEO or whoever was really in charge of the show doesn't step down or isn't removed," Kilborn told CNNMoney.
