After 8 years in office: Yom Tov Samia steps down as chairman of Apollo Power

Yom Tov Samia announced the end of his tenure as chairman of the company Apollo Power, a position he held since August 2018. According to estimates, Samia is expected to join one of the parties ahead of the elections to be held on October 27. Samia refused to comment on the matter.

Samia joined Apollo Power at a relatively early stage of its development, shortly after it began focusing on the development of flexible solar technologies, and accompanied the company throughout its years as a public company, during capital raises and the transition from research and development activity to commercial collaborations. During his tenure, he served as a part-time chairman, with a 20% scope. The cumulative cost of his salary over the last six years stood at 2.2 million shekels. In addition, he holds 0.3% of the company's shares, whose value "on paper" stands at about 400 thousand shekels.

Samia, 72, served as the GOC Southern Command in the years 1997-2000 and led the fighting in the Gaza sector. After his discharge from the IDF, he moved to the business sector and served, among other things, as president and CEO of the Baran Group, which operates in the fields of engineering and infrastructure. At the end of the last decade, he founded the "Bi-Had" party after leaving the Labor party, which he had joined in 2017.

Apollo Power, founded in 2014 by CEO Oded Rosenberg and CTO Eran Maimon, develops flexible and lightweight solar sheets and panels that can be installed on surfaces where traditional solar panels are not suitable, such as roofs with weight limitations, vehicles, industrial buildings, and water reservoirs. The company is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a market cap of about 160 million shekels.

Gadi Eisenkot, who is running in the upcoming elections at the head of the "Yashar" party, followed a similar path when he left his position as chairman of the company Storage Drop in September 2022 - before he announced his departure from the Knesset and subsequently the establishment of the "Yashar" party. Storage Drop, like Apollo Power, was engaged in green energy production.