The chief executive officer (CEO) of Adobe, one of the world’s most influential software makers, has announced his resignation. He is stepping down from this top post after 18 long years. The San Jose-based company is now searching for a new CEO after his resignation was announced.
However, Adobe said that Shantanu Narayan is not leaving the post immediately. He will serve as CEO until a suitable successor is appointed and will remain as Board Chair to facilitate the CEO transition process and support the company. The board has formed a special committee to oversee the process of finding a new CEO—both internally and externally.
Frank Calderoni, Lead Independent Director at Adobe, said, ‘On behalf of the Board, I would like to recognize Shantanu’s contributions as an architect of Adobe’s success over the past 18 years. He has set Adobe up for success in the artificial intelligence or AI-driven era.’
Last Thursday, Shantanu Narayan informed about his decision in a message to the workers. He wrote, ‘After more than 18 years, I have informed the board that I am stepping down as CEO of Adobe. I will be working with Frank Calderoni and the Board of Directors over the coming months to find my successor and smooth the transition process.’
He also said he will remain as board chair, just as John and Chuck (Adobe founders) did when he took over. While reminiscing about his long time with Adobe, Shantanu said that Adobe has expanded greatly in the last two decades. He said, the number of workers has increased from 3 thousand to more than 30 thousand at present. Annual revenue has grown from less than $1 billion to over $25 billion today. The number of subscribers and scope of digital experience has now reached billions of people.
Many reacted to the announcement of Shantanu’s resignation. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella congratulated on social media and wrote, ‘Congratulations to Shantanu! You have built one of the most important software companies in the world and opened new doors of possibilities for creatives.’
It may be noted that Shantanu Narayan joined Adobe almost three decades ago and took over as CEO in 2007. It was under his leadership that Adobe transitioned from a package software sales model to a subscription-based ‘cloud platform’ model. Flagship platforms such as Photoshop, Acrobat and Creative Cloud became the main tools for business and creative work around the world in his time.
