Symantec Announces CEO Transition Plan Following Company’s Successful Move to Focus Exclusively on Cybersecurity
April 28 2016 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Michael A. Brown to Step Down as CEO Once a
Successor is Identified; Board Commences CEO Search Process
New Office of the President Created to Provide
Continuity and Focus on Strategic Priorities
Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ:SYMC) today announced that Michael A.
Brown will be stepping down as President and Chief Executive
Officer. Mr. Brown will continue to serve as CEO and as a director
of the company until a successor has been appointed. The Symantec
Board of Directors has begun the search for the Company’s next
CEO.
To facilitate a continued focus on the Company’s strategic
priorities throughout the CEO search and transition, the Board has
created an Office of the President composed of: Ajei S. Gopal, who
is joining the Company as Interim President and Chief Operating
Officer; Thomas J. Seifert, Symantec’s Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer; and Scott C. Taylor, Symantec’s Executive
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. The Office of the
President is expected to remain in place until a new CEO has joined
the Company.
On behalf of Symantec’s Board, Chairman Daniel H. Schulman said,
“We thank Mike for guiding Symantec through a critical period of
transition as President and CEO. Under his leadership, Symantec has
successfully executed against the five priorities of its
transformation, including divesting Veritas, developing a new
product roadmap in enterprise security, improving our cost
structure, strengthening our executive team, and continuing to
return significant cash to shareholders. Given our solid financial
foundation and clear path forward as the leader in cybersecurity,
this is the right time to transition leadership for Symantec’s next
chapter of growth. We appreciate Mike’s continued support as the
Board conducts a thoughtful and comprehensive search for Symantec’s
next CEO.”
Mr. Schulman added, “The formation of the Office of the
President will allow Symantec’s management team to focus on product
development and operational excellence while the CEO search is
underway. In addition, the team will continue implementing
strategic cost-efficiency measures to deliver on our goal of
reducing costs by $400 million over the next two years. The Board
and management team are committed to driving Symantec’s
cybersecurity strategy forward and creating meaningful value for
shareholders.”
Mr. Brown said, “I am extremely proud of what our team has
accomplished. I look forward to supporting this transition as we
continue executing on our unified security strategy, building our
enterprise security sales pipeline, improving our cost structure
and efficiently allocating capital.”
Mr. Gopal said, “I am excited to rejoin Symantec and look
forward to bringing my technology and business experience to bear
in helping Symantec improve its operations. I am especially looking
forward to helping drive forward Symantec’s unified security
strategy and product portfolio by leveraging my enterprise
background.”
The Symantec Board has formed a Search Committee to oversee the
CEO selection process with the assistance of a leading executive
search firm to assist with identifying and evaluating candidates.
The Search Committee is composed of three independent directors,
Ken Hao, David L. Mahoney and Suzanne M. Vautrinot, with Mr.
Mahoney serving as chair.
The Company’s Financial Analyst Day, which was scheduled for May
26, 2016, will be postponed and rescheduled at a later date.
In a separate press release issued today, the Company announced
updated guidance for its fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016.
Conference Call
Symantec will host a conference call at 8:00 am ET / 5:00 am PT
today. Interested parties may access the conference call on the
Internet at http://www.symantec.com/invest. To listen to the live
call, please go to the website at least 15 minutes early to
register, download and install any necessary audio software. A
replay and our prepared remarks will be available on the investor
relations home page shortly after the call is completed.
About Ajei S. Gopal
Ajei S. Gopal has served as an Operating Partner at Silver Lake
since 2013. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and
General Manager in the IT Management Business Unit of HP Software.
Before joining HP in 2011, Mr. Gopal was Executive Vice President
of the Technology and Development Group at CA Technologies. Prior
to that, he served as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice
President at Symantec. Mr. Gopal also co-founded and served as
Chief Executive Officer of ReefEdge Networks, a wireless LAN
systems company. Earlier, he spent nine years at IBM in a variety
of technology roles, including Chief Technology Officer for its
Pervasive Computing Division and began his career at Bell
Communications Research. Mr. Gopal is currently on the Board of
Directors and a member of the audit committee for ANSYS Inc. An
inventor of twenty-three U.S. patents, Mr. Gopal holds a bachelor’s
degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in
Bombay and a doctorate degree in computer science from Cornell
University.
About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) is the global leader in
cybersecurity. Operating one of the world’s largest cyber
intelligence networks, we see more threats, and protect more
customers from the next generation of attacks. We help companies,
governments and individuals secure their most important data
wherever it lives.
NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information
on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec
News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news.
Symantec, the Symantec Logo and the Checkmark logo are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its
affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be
trademarks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding
the Company’s leadership transition plan, product roadmap, sales
pipeline and business strategy, capital return program and
anticipated cost reduction plans. These statements are subject to
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied
in this press release. Such risk factors include those related to:
the Company’s future financial performance; general economic
conditions; maintaining customer and partner relationships; the
competitive environment in the software industry, fluctuations in
tax rates and currency exchange rates; the timing and market
acceptance of new product releases and upgrades; the successful
development of new products and integration of acquired businesses,
and the degree to which these products and businesses gain market
acceptance. Actual results may differ materially from those
contained in the forward-looking statements in this press release.
We assume no obligation, and do not intend, to update these
forward-looking statements as a result of future events or
developments. Additional information concerning these and other
risks factors is contained in the Risk Factors section of our Form
10-K for the year ended April 3, 2015.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160428005768/en/
Symantec Corp.Media:Kristen Batch,
503-516-6297kristen_batch@symantec.comorInvestors:Jonathan
Doros, 650-527-5523jonathan_doros@symantec.com
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