CA Chief Will Retire At End Of 2009

CA’s CEO John Swainson has announced his plans to retire from the company at the end of 2009.

Swainson, who came to CA in 2004 after a 26-year career at IBM, said he plans to retire from his position at the helm of system software maker CA on 31 Dec, 2009, or upon the earlier selection of a successor. A committee of the company’s board of directors has been formed to begin an immediate search for a successor, CA officials said.

“Five years ago, I joined CA with the goal of helping CA become a trusted, valued, and strategic partner, not only to our customers, shareholders [and] employees, but also in the communities where we live and work around the world,” said Swainson, in a statement. “I am very proud that the CA team has largely accomplished the goal we set five years ago. We have restored CA’s business momentum, delivered 14 quarters of solid financial results and are positioning the company for the next phase of growth driven by promising technologies that include virtualization and cloud computing. This is the opportune time to transition to new leadership as CA begins its drive to the next level.”

Swainson will remain CEO and a director of the company during the transition and plans to step down as a member of the board of directors effective upon his retirement from CA.

To assist in the transition, the CA board has named William McCracken, previously non-executive chairman of the board, as the company’s interim-executive chairman of the board until a successor for Swainson is named, or at the discretion of the board.

“Thanks largely to John’s leadership, CA has a deep and experienced management team, good momentum across its businesses, and promising but rapidly emerging opportunities for growth,” McCracken said. “We thank John for all that he has accomplished for CA.”

The company also announced that CA board member Gary Fernandes has been named as interim-lead independent director during the transition.