Synopsys recently announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Sassine Ghazi as president and Chief Executive Officer, effective on January 1, 2024. And at that time, Aart de Geus, chair and CEO, will transition into the role of Executive Chair of Synopsys’ Board of Directors.
In these new roles, de Geus and Ghazi will continue their close and trusting collaboration to maintain and extend Synopsys’ high vitality culture, technology leadership, and excellent business growth, as they have demonstrated in recent years. Ghazi had also joined Synopsys’ Board of Directors, effective Aug. 13, 2023.
Ghazi (53) brings multiple decades of chip design, applications engineering, customer support, sales, and business management experience to Synopsys’ CEO role. And in his current role as president and COO, he leads and drives strategy for all business units, sales, marketing and customer success at Synopsys. Plus, he assumed the role of COO in August 2020 and was appointed to the role of president in November 2021. Before Synopsys, he was a design engineer at Intel.
De Geus (69), who founded Synopsys in 1986, grew the company from a disruptive start-up to a technology and market leader in electronic design automation, design IP, and software security. And Synopsys revolutionized digital design, and today, with about 20,000 employees and revenue over the last 12 months of approximately $5.5B, Synopsys is one of the world’s essential semiconductor ecosystem companies with an ambitious mission to help catalyze the coming AI-enabled ‘Smart Everything’ era. Plus, Aart is a technology visionary and legendary keynote speaker at industry events recognized by numerous awards. He built Synopsys with an unwavering value-driven commitment to positive world impact and a deep belief in the talent and potential of all people.
KEY QUOTES:
“I am ecstatic about Sassine’s transition into the CEO role. With 25 years of his career at Synopsys, Sassine embodies our values and culture, has driven very innovative technology, has strong operational experience in running our company, and has built deep, trusting relationships with our customers and partners. At heart, Sassine is a profoundly positive person with a ‘Yes, if…’ mindset, a results-oriented approach, stellar people leadership skills, and a deep passion for customers. With his outstanding track record and great talents, I’m excited about Sassine’s transition into the CEO role!”
“Regarding my own path forward. Aside from first and foremost supporting Sassine, my focus will be to champion our unique culture and technical innovation both in and outside the company. In all cases, my support of Sassine will be seamless and encouraging as he brings fresh, ambitious, and exciting new leadership to our company!”
— Aart de Geus
“Following a systematic, multi-year succession planning process and speaking for the entire board. We are delighted to promote Sassine to become our next president and CEO and thank Aart for the exemplary transition.”
— Roy Vallee, Lead Independent Director of Synopsys’ board
“I am incredibly honored and profoundly grateful to the board, Aart, and our exceptional leadership team for placing their unwavering trust in me,” said Ghazi. “My heart is filled with gratitude for the invaluable support, mentorship, and guidance extended by Aart over the years, which have been pivotal in shaping me into the leader I am today.”
“As I step into the role of CEO, I am fueled by an unwavering determination to build upon our strong foundation, drive innovation, and propel Synopsys to even greater heights of success.”
— Sassine Ghazi
