The downsizing of AgriGenesis, the plant science arm of Genesis Research, has cost the company its chief executive. Peter Lee said yesterday of his departure after less than a year in the job: “To put it one way, [I was] too expensive.” He said it was a joint decision he made with board members. New Zealand-born Lee returned from a 27-year corporate career in the United States to run AgriGenesis. In the US he was vice-president of research and development for corporate giant International Paper, the parent company of Carter Holt Harvey. AgriGenesis - which has ambitious plans to develop plant-based petrol alternatives called bio-fuels - was halved in July. The bio-fuel project will continue but several others have been put on hold. Genesis chief executive Jim Watson said Lee’s departure was inevitable after the restructuring.
