Shantanu Narayen Named As Adobe’s CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 12, 2007

Adobe Systems has announced that its board of directors appointed Shantanu Narayen to president and CEO of the company. Previously, Narayen was the president and COO.

“Shantanu’s extensive knowledge of our products and platforms, customer experience and exceptional operational leadership make him the ideal choice to lead Adobe as CEO,” stated former CEO of Adobe, Bruce Chizen. “For me personally, the time is right for a transfer of leadership and I look forward to supporting Shantanu as he takes on his new responsibilities.”

Chizen and Narayen together were responsible for the acquisition of Macromedia in 2005 for $3.4 billion. Today Adobe Flash is the preferred technology for streaming video, especially demonstrated by YouTube.

Narayen will begin CEO duties on December 1, 2007.  Chizen will serve on the Board of Directors until the end of fiscal 2008.