Adobe CEO leaves software company

Bruce Chizen said on Monday that he would step down as chief executive of Adobe, citing personal reasons for leaving the software company as it embarks on his ambitious strategy to become a central provider of the “platform” software used to support digital media.

Adobe sought to paint the move as an orderly succession, with the job passing to Shantanu Narayen, who has been president and chief op­er­ating officer since early 2005.

Yet Mr Chizen’s departure at the end of this month after seven years at the helm will bring an early conclusion to one of the most successful div­ersification stories in the software industry.

Inheriting a struggling maker of desktop software for graphic designers, the marketing exec­utive who first cut his teeth at toymaker Mattel has devised a broader internet play that has taken the company into head-on competition with Microsoft in the race to become a critical supplier of platform software on the internet.

“I’m at a point when I’d like to step back and think about what I want to do with the next stage of my life,” Mr Chizen, 52, said.

He said he expected to sit on the boards of and in­vest in other companies, and had not ruled out other CEO positions.

As evidence that his move had been voluntary, he said he would receive no severance payment. “If you get pushed out, you get a settlement,” he said. “Those of us who resign voluntarily just get thanks.”

His departure will leave it to Mr Narayen, a former Silicon Graphics and Apple executive, to see through a strategy that has already pro­voked a strong competitive response this year from Microsoft.

Starting with the Adobe Reader for digital documents and the Flash player for video, the next element of this strategy was now being put in place, with a product known as Air that allowed internet applications to run when offline, said Mr Chizen.

Adobe said that the departure did not reflect any strategic changes or shift in financial outlook.

“The strategy is working and we are on the cusp of this digital explosion,” said Mr Narayen.

Adobe said revenue would be “at the high end” of its earlier forecast of $860m to $890m for this quarter, and that revenues were expected to rise 13 per cent next year.

Adobe shares closed down 2.43 per cent at $42.19 in after hours trading.