It was announced by the manufacturer on Wednesday (29 June) that Visentin had passed away due to complications from an ongoing illness.

Visentin had replaced former Xerox CEO Jeff Jacobson in May 2018 after Jacobson and six other members of the Xerox board resigned.

Visentin had worked for Icahn’s firm Icahn Enterprises as a senior consultant in the months before Icahn and fellow investor Darwin Deason successfully campaigned against Fujifilm’s proposed takeover of Xerox, which resulted in Visentin becoming Xerox CEO.

The market quickly reacted to the sad news, with Xerox’s share price falling to a 52-week low of $14.68 (£12.22), before closing at $14.85 yesterday, down 1.5% on Wednesday’s close of $15.07, which itself was down 4.7% on Tuesday’s close of $15.82.

Xerox’s shares have fallen by close to 40% since the start of the year – at its highest point of 2022, on 13 January, the share price stood at $23.93.

At the time of writing, Icahn was yet to comment on Visentin’s passing and the continued decline in Xerox’s share price. Seeking Alpha reported yesterday on speculation that Icahn and Deason could “renew efforts for Xerox to explore options”.

According to the article, Dealreporter speculated in its ‘morning flash’ piece that options could include a sale of the company or “a divestiture of the company’s financing unit”.