Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) (the “Company”) today announced the
following leadership changes:
-
Richard S. Hill, current Symantec director and former Chairman and CEO
of Novellus Systems, has been appointed Interim President and Chief
Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Hill succeeds Greg
Clark, who has stepped down as President and CEO and as a member of
the Symantec Board, also effective immediately. The Company will
commence a search process to find a permanent CEO. -
Vincent Pilette, CFO of Logitech and former VP of Finance for Hewlett
Packard Enterprise’s server, storage and networking business, has been
appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of
Symantec. He is anticipated to join the Company on May 21, 2019. Mr.
Pilette’s appointment follows a comprehensive search process initiated
in connection with Nicholas Noviello’s departure as EVP and CFO as
announced on January 31, 2019.
Daniel H. Schulman, Chairman of the Symantec Board of Directors, said,
“Symantec has a significant opportunity to further enhance shareholder
value by continuing to build on the leadership and momentum of both our
Enterprise and Consumer Cyber Safety segments. As we enter into a new
financial year, Greg and the Board agreed that now is the right time to
transition leadership, and we are confident in Rick’s ability to drive
the Company forward while we work to identify a permanent CEO.”
Mr. Schulman continued, “Rick is a highly-regarded technology executive
with a track record in enterprise computing solutions, and decades of
experience leading public companies in the semiconductor and systems
industries. His years of relevant leadership experience coupled with his
familiarity with our organization make him a natural fit for the Interim
CEO role and will allow him to seamlessly take on the responsibilities.”
Mr. Hill, who has served as a Director since January 2019 and who has
been named Interim President and CEO of Symantec, said, “I’d like to
thank Greg Clark and the full team at Symantec, who have done an
outstanding job of building a strategy and solutions that defend
enterprises and consumers from the ever increasing cyber threat
landscape. Symantec is the only company in the world with a platform
built on extensive cyber telemetry and advanced cyber analytics to
dynamically defend and inoculate its customers against sophisticated
cyber attacks. I look forward to working closely with the Board and
management team in executing on the market opportunity within cyber
security and am proud to lead Symantec during this interim time while we
transition to permanent leadership in the Company.”
Mr. Schulman added, “The Board extends its deep appreciation to Greg for
his leadership and contributions to our Company since becoming CEO. He
has led Symantec through a time of great transformation, including the
combination with Blue Coat and the acquisition of LifeLock, which
redefined the cybersecurity landscape. We wish him all the best in his
future endeavors.”
Mr. Clark, who has served as CEO since Symantec’s acquisition of Blue
Coat in 2016, said, “It has been a privilege to lead this great
organization and I am proud of all that the team has accomplished in
nearly three years. Together, we’ve built a large installed base of
customers and brought to market some of the world’s most powerful cyber
defense solutions. As Symantec enters its next phase of growth and value
creation, it is the right time for the Board to identify the next
generation of leadership. With Rick as Interim President and CEO and a
world class team in place, I have no doubt this will be a seamless
transition for our customers, partners, employees and shareholders.”
Mr. Pilette, who currently serves as CFO of Logitech and has been
appointed Symantec’s new EVP and CFO, said, “I join Symantec with a deep
background in operations and as an investor in the Company. Symantec is
known for its R&D strengths, its iconic brands, and the breadth of its
portfolio, and I am eager to work with the management team to drive
growth across our Enterprise and Consumer segments and deliver value to
our customers, partners and shareholders. Having met Rick three years
ago, I continue to be impressed by his focus on operational excellence
and strong record of execution. I am very pleased to be joining him and
the entire team as we work to enhance our financial and operational
discipline, and improve our results and margins.”
Mr. Hill continued, “Having participated in the CFO search process in my
capacity as a Board member, I am delighted to welcome Vincent to
Symantec. In addition to his financial and operational acumen, he brings
a proven track record of driving results throughout his decades-long
career as a financial executive in the technology industry, across our
Enterprise and Consumer segments. I look forward to working with Vincent
and know he will be an excellent partner to me and the management team
both during this interim period and for the long term.”
Mr. Hill added, “During the CEO search process and beyond, we will
benefit from our deep bench of leaders, including Art Gilliland and
Samir Kapuria, to help maintain continuity and leadership across our
Enterprise and Consumer organizations. As Symantec continues to execute
our strategy for these pivotal business segments, I can think of no two
better leaders than Art and Samir to continue driving results and
ensuring we achieve the goal of making our cyber world a safer place.”
Following the changes announced today, the size of Symantec’s Board has
decreased from 13 to 12 members, 11 of whom are independent.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Results
As announced in a separate press release issued today, Symantec
disclosed financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and full year
fiscal 2019, which ended on March 29, 2019. The Company will host a
conference call today, May 9, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. PT to discuss the
leadership transition and financial results.
About Richard S. Hill
Mr. Hill has been a member of Symantec’s Board since January 2019. Mr.
Hill has served as Chairman of the board of directors of Marvell
Technology Group Ltd., a semiconductor company, since May 2016 and as a
member of the boards of directors of Arrow Electronics, Inc., an
electronic components and enterprise computing solutions company, since
2006, Cabot Microelectronics Corporation, a chemical mechanical
planarization supplier, since June 2012, and Xperi, an electronic
devices development company, since August 2012 and as its Chairman since
March 2013. Previously, Mr. Hill served on the boards of directors of
several technology companies, including Autodesk, Inc. from March 2016
to June 2018, Yahoo! Inc. from April 2016 to June 2017, Planar Systems,
Inc. from June 2013 to December 2015 and LSI Corporation from 2007 to
May 2014. Mr. Hill also served as CEO of Novellus Systems, Inc. from
December 1993 to June 2012 and held the title of Chairman/CEO at
Novellus from May 1996 to June 2012. Mr. Hill received a Bachelor of
Science degree in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois in
Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from Syracuse University.
About Vincent Pilette
Mr. Pilette has substantial expertise as a senior financial executive of
technology companies. He brings over 20 years of financial management
experience in the U.S. and EMEA, most recently as Chief Financial
Officer of Logitech International S.A., from September 2013 to May 2019.
During his tenure at Logitech, he was responsible for the company’s
financial strategies and worldwide finance organization, managing
consolidated revenues of almost three billion dollars (U.S.), tax,
treasury, accounting, financial planning and analysis, and communication
with an international base of shareholders trading Logitech shares on
the SIX Swiss Exchange and the Nasdaq Global Market. In addition, Mr.
Pilette was a key partner to Logitech’s CEO to shape and direct the
implementation of all aspects of the company’s business
strategies. Prior to Logitech, Mr. Pilette served as Chief Financial
Officer of Electronics for Imaging (EFI), a global technology imaging
company, and as Vice President of Finance for Hewlett Packard
Enterprise’s multi-billion dollar server, storage and networking
business. He holds an M.S. in engineering and business from Université
Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of
Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.
About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC), the world’s leading cyber security
company, helps organizations, governments and people secure their most
important data wherever it lives. Organizations across the world look to
Symantec for strategic, integrated solutions to defend against
sophisticated attacks across endpoints, cloud and infrastructure.
Likewise, a global community of more than 50 million people and families
rely on Symantec’s Norton and LifeLock product suites to protect their
digital lives at home and across their devices. Symantec operates one of
the world’s largest civilian cyber intelligence networks, allowing it to
see and protect against the most advanced threats. For additional
information, please visit www.symantec.com
or connect with us on Facebook,
Twitter,
and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements which may be considered
forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws,
including statements regarding the Company’s leadership changes and
Symantec’s prospects for growth and value creation. 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:
retention of existing executive leadership team members; difficulties in
improving sales execution and product development during leadership
transitions; general business and economic conditions; our ability to
integrate acquired businesses and realize the expected benefits of the
acquisitions; matters arising out of our completed Audit Committee
investigation and the ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
investigation; fluctuations and volatility in Symantec’s stock price;
the ability of Symantec to successfully execute strategic plans; the
ability to maintain customer and partner relationships; the ability of
Symantec to achieve its cost and operating efficiency goals; the
anticipated growth of certain market segments; Symantec’s sales pipeline
and business strategy; fluctuations in tax rates and foreign currency
exchange rates; the timing and market acceptance of new product releases
and upgrades; and the successful development of new products and the
degree to which these products gain market acceptance. Actual results
may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking
statements in this press release. Symantec assumes no obligation, and
does not intend, to update these forward-looking statements as a result
of future events or developments. Additional information concerning
these and other risk factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections
of Symantec’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190509005930/en/