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Press Release |
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VeriSign Board Elects New CEO, New Chairman
Stratton D Sclavos Steps Down as Chief Executive Officer and member
of Board
Principal Operations Continue to Report to Executive Vice Presidents
Mark McLaughlin, John Donovan, Aristotle Balogh and Bob Korzeniewski
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California – May 29, 2007 – VeriSign, Inc (Nasdaq:
VRSN), the leading provider of digital infrastructure for the networked
world, today announced that its Board of Directors have elected William
A Roper, Jr, as President and Chief Executive Officer. He has served
as the Board’s lead independent Director and replaces Stratton D Sclavos,
who resigned from the company. The Board also elected Edward A Mueller
as Chairman of the Board.
Roper, who has served as a Director of VeriSign since
November 2003, will become a full-time employee of VeriSign. He most
recently served as Executive Vice President of Science Applications
International Corporation (NYSE: SAI), a diversified technology services
company. He also served as SAIC’s Chief Financial Officer from 1990
to 2000, and played a leadership role in Network Solutions from the
time of its acquisition by SAIC in 1995 until its merger into VeriSign
in 2000. Network Solutions included the domain name registry business
that is central to VeriSign’s business.
‘VeriSign is a highly respected company with an attractive
business model and leading positions in growing markets. The board remains
committed to our strategy, and is pleased with the early results of
the restructuring programme we began this year,’ said Roper. ‘I look
forward to working with VeriSign’s management team to capitalise on
the company’s growth opportunities while ensuring the strongest possible
emphasis on managerial discipline and execution.’
The company’s principal operations continue to report
to:
- Mark D McLaughlin,
Executive Vice President of the Products, Marketing and Customer Care
organisation. He is responsible for VeriSign's product strategy, product
management, product development, corporate and product marketing and
customer care. Since joining VeriSign in 2000, he has served as Executive
Vice President and General Manager of the Information Services Division;
Senior Vice President, Deputy General Manager, Registry Services; Vice
President, Corporate Business Development; and Vice President, General
Manager, Payment Services.
- John Donovan, Executive
Vice President of Global Sales and Services, who is responsible for
VeriSign's global sales and consulting organisation. He joined VeriSign
when, in 2006, it acquired inCode Wireless, of which he was Chairman
and CEO. Previously, he served as a partner of Deloitte Consulting and
as Americas Industry Practice director for telecoms.
- Aristotle Balogh,
Chief Technology Officer and head of Global Product Development, who
leads all areas of product development and technology deployment. Balogh
previously served as Executive Vice President of Operations and Infrastructure
and as Vice President of Engineering for the VeriSign Global Registry
Service. Before joining VeriSign, Balogh held a variety of management
and engineering roles at SRA Corporation, UPS’s Roadnet Technologies,
and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
- Bob Korzeniewski,
Executive Vice President for Corporate Development, who is responsible
for providing a consistent strategy and focus for investments and merger
and acquisition activity. Under his leadership, the company has completed
approximately 40 acquisitions and extended its strategic relationships
with key technology partners. He served as CFO of Network Solutions
from 1996 until its merger with VeriSign in 2000.
Mr Mueller, who joined VeriSign’s Board in March 2005,
is the former CEO of Williams-Sonoma, a speciality retailer. In 1968
he joined SBC Communications (now AT&T) and served as chief executive
of several business units, including Ameritech from 2000 to 2002, SBC
International Operations from 1999 to 2000, Pacific Bell from 1997 to
1999 and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company from 1994 to 1997.
‘We thank Stratton Sclavos for all he has accomplished
for VeriSign,’ said Mueller. ‘Over the last 12 years, he helped establish
VeriSign as a global corporation that millions of consumers and businesses
rely on every day as they interact on the world's voice and data networks.
We wish him continued success in the future.’
Sclavos said, ‘I want to thank the people of VeriSign
for their support and contributions over the past 12 years. I am proud
of my role in building VeriSign into the great company it has become,
and wish all of my associates the very best in the coming years.’
As previously disclosed, the review of the company's
historical share option grant practices by an ad hoc group of independent
members of VeriSign's Board of Directors is substantially completed. The
review did not find intentional wrongdoing by any current member of
senior management, including Sclavos.
VeriSign’s 2007 Analyst Day, previously scheduled
for June 6 at VeriSign's corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California,
has been postponed until a later date.
Today’s Conference Call
VeriSign will host a live teleconference call today
at 5.30 am (PDT) to introduce Roper and Mueller. The call will be accessible
by direct dial at (800) 819-9193 (US) or +1-913-981-4911 (international).
A listen-only live webcast as well as a replay will also be available
at http://investor.verisign.com. A replay of this call will be available
at (888) 203-1112 or +1-719-457-0820 (passcode: 6114819) beginning at
7.00 am (PDT) on May 29 and will run through to June 1. This press release
is available on the Investor Relations section of the VeriSign website
at http://investor.verisign.com.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc (Nasdaq: VRSN) operates digital infrastructure
services which enable and protect billions of interactions every day
across the world’s voice, video and data networks. Additional news and
information about the company is available at http://www.verisign.co.uk.
VRSNF
Contacts:
Investor Relations: Ken Bond, kbond@verisign.com,
+1-650-426-3744
Media Relations: Caroline Japic, cjapic@verisign.com,
+1-650-224-4150
Statements in this announcement other than historical
data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results
to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking
statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others,
risks associated with the resignation of Mr Sclavos and the announced
management transition, the uncertainty of VeriSign’s ability to realise
potential growth opportunities, the fact that the Securities and Exchange
Commission inquiry and the restatement of financial statements by VeriSign
relating to historical share option grants and practices are ongoing
and that additional matters could arise as a result, risks relating
to the VeriSign’s ability to attract and retain key personnel in light
of the management changes, uncertainties that VeriSign will be able
to execute successfully on its restructuring programme and uncertainties
as to whether VeriSign will realise any financial or other benefits
from its proposed restructuring, and risks related to the possible delisting
of the Company’s Ordinary Shares from the Nasdaq Global Market. More
information about potential factors that could affect the company's
business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. VeriSign undertakes
no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after
the date of this press release.
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