San Francisco/New York: Software maker Adobe Systems Inc. CEO Bruce Chizen said on Monday he would step down, and President and Chief Operating Officer Shantanu Narayen will replace him on December 1.
Narayen, who was born and educated in India, will retain his title as Adobe's president and join its board in December, Adobe said. Narayen has been president and COO of the maker of the popular Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat programs for almost three years.
Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as vice president and general manager of engineering. In 1999, he was promoted to senior vice president, and in January 2005 he became president and chief operating officer. Before Adobe, Narayen co-founded Pictra Inc., a digital photo sharing software company. He also served as director of desktop and collaboration products at Silicon Graphics Inc. and was a senior manager at Apple Inc.
Narayen holds five patents and serves on the advisory board of the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. He and holds a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from Osmania University in Hyderabad and an MBA from Haas.
Chizen, who has been at Adobe for 14 years, will remain CEO until November 30, then work halftime as a strategic adviser until the end of fiscal 2008. He will also serve on Adobe's board of directors through the spring.
Chizen, 52, who has served as Adobe's CEO for seven years as the company collected record profits, said in a phone interview he was stepping down ''to take a break.''
''This will be the first time in my life I've had a chance to take a step back and figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life,'' Chizen said. ''As much as I love Adobe products and employees, I didn't want to find myself at 55 saying, 'Gee, I wish I had done something else besides Adobe.' The role of CEO is all-consuming.''
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The San Jose-based software maker has been on a tear in recent quarters, launching a slew of new programs for ''creative professionals'' _ editors, videographers, Web designers and other workers willing to pay top dollar for sophisticated software. Besides Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat, the company's flagship products include the popular Creative Suite, which was updated in April.
Adobe reported in September that its fiscal third-quarter profit more than doubled on a 41 percent revenue increase, and bullish executives have predicted a sustained double-digit growth spurt.
''I'm not leaving under any cloud. There's no severance agreement. I'm taking a break, and the reason I feel comfortable taking a break is because the company is in such good shape,'' Chizen said.
Narayen called Chizen a mentor and friend. ''The reality is that Bruce and I have partnered over the past few years over fundamental strategy,'' Narayen said Monday in a conference call. ''With five years of double-digit growth, it's clear to me that our strategy is working.''
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