With the departure of @JohnChambers from #CiscoSystems Inc.’s board of directors, Chief Executive @ChuckRobbins is now fully in charge of the networking giant and its efforts to return to growth. Early Monday, Cisco CSCO-0.09% said that Chambers—Cisco’s longest running chief executive who retired in 2015—would not be running for re-election as chairman of the board. Cisco also said it plans to appoint Robbins, who became CEO in July 2015, as chairman at its annual meeting in December, while Chambers will receive the honorary title of chairman emeritus.  The departure of Chambers from Cisco represents the final end of Chambers personifying Cisco the company. As CEO for 20 years, Chambers led Cisco from IPO to hypergrowth and through the ups and downs of technology boom-and-bust cycles. In his more recent role as chairman, he has acted as a sort of ambassador for the networking behemoth, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos and other conferences to impart Cisco’s worldview on technology, and providing advice and counsel to Robbins, a surprise choice among Cisco executives to succeed him. On his own, Chambers has been investing in drone startups, and providing counsel to young entrepreneurs, a role he also enjoyed at Cisco. Last year, he invested in and joined the board of Airware and in March, Chambers invested in Dedrone, a drone security startup. “It is time for Cisco to move on to its next generation of leadership including at the board and Chairman level and to position this seamlessly for the future,” Chambers said in a letter to the board, later adding that every transition the company has gone through has been “a world class example of transparency and execution.”
No comments:
Post a Comment