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July 4, 2008 12:02 PM PDT

VeriSign names interim CEO

by Natalie Weinstein

VeriSign, which runs the master database for the .com and .net domains, has replaced its CEO and president, who resigned suddenly earlier this week.

Jim Bidzos

(Credit: VeriSign)

The company said Thursday that William Roper had resigned as of Monday. Roper, who had served as CEO for just more than a year, has been replaced on an interim basis by VeriSign's founder and chairman, Jim Bidzos.

Bidzos, who founded the Mountain View, Calif.-based company in 1995, has served as either chairman or vice chairman of the board of directors since its start. He was also the company's first CEO.

Roper had been working on whittling VeriSign down to its core Internet-services businesses.

"VeriSign remains committed to our strategy of focusing the company on its core businesses while continuing the divestiture of all non-core operations, which will proceed as planned," Bidzos said in a statement. "We appreciate Bill's contributions in implementing this divestiture strategy, which the board and the company are fully committed to continuing."

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Roper's decision to leave right now was voluntary, so to speak. "I don't think it was fair to have him around while we were looking for a replacement, so he chose to leave," Bidzos told analysts on a conference call.

Natalie Weinstein is an associate editor who works out of Austin, Texas. She spent a decade as a reporter and editor in the newspaper industry before joining the CNET News staff in 2000. E-mail Natalie.
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Add a Comment (Log in or register)
by blabtech July 4, 2008 10:21 PM PDT
Well atleast this guy was CEO once upon a time before, so he probably knows what he is doing... after all he was the founder.

http://blabtech.blogspot.com
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by ctwoodring April 1, 2009 11:00 PM PDT
Curious to know whether the board and stock holders really know what is behind the replacement of Roper. Why is a public company, so pervasive in the tech industry, SO secretive. Wonder what will happen to Verisign stock?
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