Symantec has confirmed that president and CEO Steve Bennett’s position has been terminated, and replaced with Michael Brown as an interim.
In a statement, Symantec said that Bennett resigned from the board of directors. He was in the position for just under two years, following the departure of Enrique Salem, who has remained in the security sector and serves on the boards of FireEye, Box and Forescout.
Symantec said that a special committee of the board will immediately begin the search for a permanent CEO, with the assistance of a leading executive search firm. Michael Brown joined Symantec’s board of directors following the company’s merger with VERITAS Software in July 2005, and previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of Quantum Corporation.
Brown said: “With recent key hires, we have a leadership team in place that is capable of accelerating our growth and I look forward to working closely with them to help execute the next phase of the company’s transformation plan.
“The need for protecting and managing your information has never been stronger, and we must act aggressively to capture a growing share of this market. By concentrating on product innovation and growth initiatives, we aim to leverage Symantec’s tremendous assets across both consumer and enterprise applications to enhance our position as a market leader.”
Chairman Daniel Schulman said on behalf of Symantec’s board that it recognised Bennett’s contributions to Symantec including developing and leading a series of successful initiatives focused on organizational realignment, cost reduction and process effectiveness.
“Our priority is now to identify a leader who can leverage our company’s assets and leadership team to drive the next stage of Symantec’s product innovation and growth. This considered decision was the result of an ongoing deliberative process, and not precipitated by any event or impropriety,” he said.
