Symantec CEO pushed out, more to come in tech

Posted Nov 18th 2008 8:43AM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Management, Yahoo! (YHOO), Symantec Corp (SYMC)

Forget about Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO)'s Jerry Yang being pushed out. His firm is an internet company. CEOs in the heart of the tech industry may begin losing their jobs in greater number as the recession takes hold and boards seek new management that can contain costs and hold investors.

Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC)'s CEO stepped down yesterday. He said the move had been planned. Maybe. Maybe not.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Symantec Corp. said Chief Executive John W. Thompson will retire at the end of the company's fiscal year in April."

Not mentioned in the announcement was the fact that the company's stock is off 45% in the last three months. SYMC's direct competitor McAfee (NYSE: MFE) is only down 25%, about the same as the DJIA. Symantec recently announced net profits lower than those in the two immediately previous quarters.

The sacking of execs may be moving from finance to tech.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Tags: inthenews, MFE, SYMC, YHOO