VeriSign Board of Directors Elects William
A. Roper, Jr. as Chief Executive Officer and Edward A. Mueller as 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, CA – May 29, 2007 – VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:
VRSN), the leading provider of digital infrastructure for the networked
world, today announced that its Board of Directors has 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 program we began this year,” said Roper. “I look forward
to working with VeriSign’s management team to capitalize 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 organization. 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 organization.
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 telecom.
- 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 specialty 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 upon 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 stock 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, Calif.,
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 (913) 981-4911 (international). A listen-only
live web cast 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 (719) 457-0820
(passcode: 6114819) beginning at 7:00 am (PDT) on May 29 and will run
through 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
that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the
world’s voice and data networks. Additional news and information about
the company is available at www.verisign.com.
Contacts
Investor Relations: Ken Bond, kbond@verisign.com,
650-426-3744
Media Relations: Caroline Japic, cjapic@verisign.com,
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 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 realize potential growth opportunities,
the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry and
the restatement of financial statements by VeriSign relating to historical
stock 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 program and uncertainties as to whether VeriSign will
realize any financial or other benefits from its proposed restructuring,
and risks related to the possible delisting of the Company’s Common
Stock 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.
Worldwide Sites
