Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to step down
Adobe's longtime CEO, Shantanu Narayen, is stepping down after leading the company for nearly two decades.
He will stay on as chair of the board until a new CEO is picked.
The announcement comes as Adobe faces a rough patch, with its stock dropping more than 7% recently and down 23% so far this year.
Narayen's legacy and the search for a new leader
Narayen helped transform Adobe, from overseeing the shift to a subscription model (e.g., Creative Cloud) to expanding into AI; during his tenure the company's annual revenue grew to $24 billion.
Now, with no successor yet named and investors worried about how Adobe will handle AI competition, all eyes are on who takes the reins next.
Narayen's journey at Adobe
Narayen became CEO in late 2007.
He's known for steering big changes and participated in an analyst call about the announcement.
The road ahead for Adobe
A special committee led by Frank Calderoni will search both inside and outside the company for a new CEO.
With tech rivals heating up and questions swirling about Adobe's future direction, it's a big moment of change for one of tech's creative giants.