SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Autodesk, Inc.
(NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced that Carl
Bass has decided to step down as president and chief
executive officer, effective February
8. The company's board has instituted a CEO search to
consider candidates inside and outside Autodesk and has formed an
Interim Office of the Chief Executive to oversee the company's
day-to-day operations. Bass will remain on staff as a special
advisor to the company in support of the transition to a new CEO.
He will continue to sit on the Autodesk board of directors and will
be nominated for reelection at the 2017 annual meeting of
shareholders. Crawford W. Beveridge will remain non-executive
chairman of the board.
"I've worked with Carl through his tenure as CEO of Autodesk,
and I've always valued his focus and vision, as well as his rare
combination of business and technical expertise," said Beveridge.
"We have seen exponential growth in the last decade, both in the
business and in Autodesk's market opportunity. Carl has always been
a driven and passionate change agent for the company, and under his
direction Autodesk has transformed from a 2D design company into
the worldwide leader of 3D design and engineering software.
"With Carl at the helm, the company has led its industry's move
to subscription and Autodesk was the first to recognize and embrace
the implications of cloud and mobile technology on design and
production across countless industries around the world. Carl's
leadership has opened up tremendous opportunity for Autodesk. We
are grateful that Carl has agreed to remain on the board of
directors and serve as a special advisor to support the CEO
transition and cloud and subscription business model
transition."
Bass commented, "It's been my honor to lead Autodesk through
this exciting period of growth and change. I'm very proud of
everything we accomplished – from both a business and technology
perspective. Our cloud and subscription business is well underway.
The company's strategy is working, the management team is strong
and it's the right time for me to step aside. Autodesk is poised
for even greater success as it enters this next phase. I'm looking
forward to my next adventure but will continue working with the
company through my role as a board member and am committed to
ensuring that the cloud and subscription business model will
continue to be successful."
Board of Directors Moves
Autodesk also announced a
new agreement between Autodesk and Sachem Head Capital Management
LP ('Sachem Head'). The agreement calls for two of Sachem Head's
2016 director nominees, Scott
Ferguson and Jeff Clarke, to
resign from the board of directors. In addition, Sachem Head
Capital has agreed to continue until June
2018 their earlier standstill and voting agreement
provisions.
Said Ferguson, "Since joining the board, I have been impressed
with Carl's vision and leadership. I am confident that through this
transition, we will identify a leader who can further propel the
company's progress and drive Autodesk's growth and value creation
well into the future."
The board will begin a search for a new independent director
candidate, who will join when Ferguson and Clarke step down, which
will occur on the later of the 2017 annual meeting or the
appointment of a new CEO.
CEO Transition
To ensure Autodesk's continued focus
on business performance and technological innovation, the board has
formed an Interim Office of the Chief Executive to oversee the
company's day-to-day operations during the transition. The Interim
Office of the Chief Executive will be headed by Amar Hanspal,
senior vice president and chief product officer, and Andrew
Anagnost, senior vice president and chief marketing officer as
interim co-chief executive officers.
Hanspal joined Autodesk in 1987 and has held various product
leadership, marketing and customer success roles at the company. He
led Autodesk's technology shift to the cloud platforms and to
software as a service, as well as investment in construction and
manufacturing growth opportunities, and currently leads the
company's worldwide product development organization. Anagnost
began his career in aeronautical engineering at Lockheed Martin
Aeronautics. He joined Autodesk in 1997 and has held various
marketing, product management and product development roles. He led
the company's transition to an all-subscription business model, and
now also oversees all of marketing and business strategy for
Autodesk.
Bass and Autodesk's board began discussing a potential CEO
transition more than 18 months ago as part of the board's
longstanding CEO succession planning process. When Sachem Head
began acquiring company stock in late 2015, Bass and the board put
discussions regarding a permanent successor on hold, determining
that stable leadership was important to help Autodesk navigate
investor negotiations while successfully advancing its transition
to cloud-based technologies and a subscription-only business model.
Given the new agreement with Sachem Head, Bass and the board have
decided that this is the right time to identify the individual that
will lead Autodesk's next stage of growth. The executive search
firm Egon Zehnder has been retained to assist in the CEO
search.
Beveridge continued, "The board and I have the utmost confidence
in Amar and Andrew to lead our business and continue our strong
operational performance as we look for Carl's successor. The new
CEO, and Amar and Andrew in the interim, will be focused on
ensuring that our cloud-based technologies and subscription-only
business model continue to be successful. The board has established
a comprehensive search process, which will include internal and
external candidates, to select a strong leader who can execute our
strategy and lead Autodesk as we enter the next stage of our
growth."
Company Reaffirms Guidance
Autodesk reiterated its
non-GAAP business outlook for fourth quarter and full year fiscal
2017 and expects revenue, earnings per share, and subscription
additions to be at the high end of guidance disclosed on
November 29, 2016.
About Autodesk
Autodesk makes software for people who
make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired
a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film,
chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers
are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make
anything. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow
@autodesk.
Autodesk is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., and/or
its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand
names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective
holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services
offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without
notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical
errors that may appear in this document.
© 2017 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties,
including statements regarding the expected impacts and results of
our executive officer search and transition and independent
director search, statements about our ability to identify and
attract a qualified new chief executive officer and independent
director and such individuals' performance, statements about our
current expectations and projections of future financial
performance, statements about our short-term and long-term goals
and our ability to achieve them, statements under the section
labelled "Company Reaffirms Guidance", and other statements
regarding our strategies, market and product positions,
performance, and results. You can identify forward-looking
statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to
historical or current facts. There are a significant number of
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
statements made in this press release, including: failure to
achieve our revenue and profitability objectives; failure to
successfully identify or attract a qualified new chief executive
officer or independent director; failure to successfully manage
transitions to business models and markets, including the
introduction of additional ratable revenue streams and our
continuing efforts to attract customers to our cloud-based
offerings and expenses related to the transition of our business
model; difficulty in predicting revenue from new businesses and the
potential impact on our financial results from changes in our
business models; general market, political, economic and business
conditions; any imposition of new tariffs or trade barriers; the
impact of non-cash charges on our financial results; fluctuation in
foreign currency exchange rates; the success of our foreign
currency hedging program; failure to control our expenses; our
performance in particular geographies, including emerging
economies; the ability of governments around the world to meet
their financial and debt obligations, and finance infrastructure
projects; weak or negative growth in the industries we serve;
slowing momentum in subscription billings or revenues; difficulties
encountered in integrating new or acquired businesses and
technologies; the inability to identify and realize the anticipated
benefits of acquisitions; the financial and business condition of
our reseller and distribution channels; dependence on and the
timing of large transactions; failure to achieve sufficient
sell-through in our channels for new or existing products; pricing
pressure; unexpected fluctuations in our tax rate; the timing and
degree of expected investments in growth and efficiency
opportunities; changes in the timing of product releases and
retirements; and any unanticipated accounting charges. In
addition, with respect to the affirmation of our financial guidance
for the completed fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 and full fiscal
year 2017, changes could result from the fact that we have not
completed an accounting close for such periods and that our
projected results have not undergone an audit by our independent
accountants. As a result, audit adjustments or the timing of
revenue recognition could materially impact these projected
results.
Further information on potential factors that could affect the
financial results of Autodesk are included in Autodesk's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016 and Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended October
31, 2016, which are on file with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. Autodesk disclaims any obligation to update
the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that
occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were
made.
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SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.