NetApp CEO Tom Georgens to Depart

By Josh Beckerman 

NetApp Inc. announced the departure of Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Georgens, less than two weeks after the data storage company said it would lay off 500 workers and issued a disappointing financial forecast.

George Kurian has been named chief executive, although the company also intends to conduct a CEO search. Mr. Kurian, a former vice president at Cisco Systems Inc., joined NetApp in 2011 and has been NetApp's executive vice president of product operations.

Lead independent director Mike Nevens is the company's new chairman.

NetApp said last month that its profit for the latest quarter fell 32%. The company also gave a forecast for the current period that badly missed Wall Street estimates.

The company sells data storage hardware in competition with EMC Corp. and others. It has been hurt by a shift to cloud-based storage instead of businesses buying and operating their own hardware. NetApp has also struggled with the impact of a major product-line overhaul.

Mr. Georgens joined NetApp in 2005 and became CEO in 2009.

NetApp shares fell 25 cents to $32.90 in recent after-hours trading.

Write to Josh Beckerman at [e-mail]

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