NetApp Inc. announced the departure of Chairman and Chief
Executive Tom Georgens, less than two weeks after the data storage
company said it would lay off 500 workers and issued a
disappointing financial forecast.
George Kurian has been named chief executive, although the
company also intends to conduct a CEO search. Mr. Kurian, a former
vice president at Cisco Systems Inc., joined NetApp in 2011 and has
been NetApp's executive vice president of product operations.
Lead independent director Mike Nevens is the company's new
chairman.
NetApp said last month that its profit for the latest quarter
fell 32%. The company also gave a forecast for the current period
that badly missed Wall Street estimates.
The company sells data storage hardware in competition with EMC
Corp. and others. It has been hurt by a shift to cloud-based
storage instead of businesses buying and operating their own
hardware. NetApp has also struggled with the impact of a major
product-line overhaul.
Mr. Georgens joined NetApp in 2005 and became CEO in 2009.
NetApp shares fell 25 cents to $32.90 in recent after-hours
trading.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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