Shantanu Narayen (born May 27, 1963)[1] is an Indian-American business executive. He has been the chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Adobe Inc. since December 2007.[5] Before this, he was the company's president and chief operating officer since 2005.[6]

Shantanu Narayen
Narayen in 2016
Born (1963-05-27) May 27, 1963 (age 60)[1]
CitizenshipAmerican[2]
Alma mater
TitleChairman and CEO of Adobe Inc.
PredecessorBruce Chizen
Board member ofAdobe Inc.[3]
Pfizer[4]
HonoursPadma Sri (2019)

Early life and education edit

Narayen grew up in Hyderabad, India in a Telugu-speaking Hindu family.[7] He is the second son of a mother who taught American literature and a father who ran a plastics company.[8] He attended Hyderabad Public School.[9]

He earned a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering from University College of Engineering, Osmania University in Hyderabad.[10] He moved to the United States to complete his education, and in 1986 received a master's degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.[10][11] Later he received an MBA from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.[12]

Career edit

Early career edit

In 1986 Narayen joined a Silicon Valley start-up called Measurex Automation Systems, which made computer control systems for automotive and electronics customers.[13][14] He then moved to Apple, where he was in senior management positions from 1989 to 1995.[1]

After Apple, he served as director of desktop and collaboration products for Silicon Graphics.[10][1] In 1996 co-founded Pictra Inc., a company that pioneered the concept of digital photo sharing over the Internet.[15][10]

Adobe edit

Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide product development, a position he held through 2001.[1] From 2001 to 2005 he was executive vice president of worldwide products.[1]

In 2005 he was appointed president and chief operating officer.[1]

CEO edit

In November 2007, Adobe announced that Bruce Chizen would step down as CEO effective December 1, 2007, to be replaced by Narayen.[16]

As CEO, Narayen[17] led the transformation of the company, moving its creative and digital document software franchises – which include flagship programs such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat/PDF – from the desktop to the cloud.[1] In addition, during his tenure as CEO, Adobe has entered the digital experiences category, an expansion which began with the company’s acquisition of Omniture in 2009.[18][19]

In 2018 Adobe exceeded $100 billion in market cap and joined the Fortune 400 for the first time.[20][21] In 2018 it also ranked No. 13 on Forbes’ Most Innovative Companies list.[20]

In 2011, Barack Obama appointed him as a member of his Management Advisory Board.[22] Narayen is the lead independent director on the board of directors for Pfizer, and vice chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.[23][24]

Honors and awards edit

In May 2011, Narayen received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Bowling Green State University.[25] In 2018, Narayen was ranked #12 on Fortune's "Businessperson of the Year" list,[26] and was deemed "Global Indian of the Year" in 2018 by The Economic Times of India.[23][24][27] In 2019, he was a recipient of India's Padma Shri award.[28]

Personal life edit

Narayen lives in Palo Alto, California.[2] He met his wife Reni while at Bowling Green State University in the mid 1980s;[12][29] she has a doctorate in clinical psychology.[30] They have two sons.[1] He once represented India in sailing at an Asian Regatta.[31][29] He, along with Satya Nadella, has also invested in Major League Cricket to be hosted by the American Cricket Enterprises (ACE).[32]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Waters, Richard (February 22, 2015). "Monday interview: Shantanu Narayen, Adobe CEO". Financial Times. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Adobe's Shantanu Narayen: India and Other Emerging Markets Are Going to Drive Trends in Software Evolution". Knowledge@Wharton. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  3. ^ "BRIEF-Adobe's board elects Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen as Chairman". Reuters. February 1, 2017.
  4. ^ "Shantanu Narayen". Pfizer.
  5. ^ "Leaders". Retrieved March 26, 2020. Shantanu Narayen is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Adobe, one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world.
  6. ^ "Shantanu Narayen" (PDF). Adobe. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  7. ^ SiliconIndia. "How Shantanu Narayen Leads Adobe To Success". siliconindia. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  8. ^ Victoria Barret (June 16, 2008). "Ubiquitous Upside". Forbes.
  9. ^ Hess, Abigail (April 5, 2018). "How one high school produced the CEOs of Microsoft, Adobe and Mastercard". CNBC. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d "Shantanu Narayen". Adobe. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  11. ^ "Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes 2011-05-06". Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes. Bowling Green State University. May 6, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Shantanu Narayen, MBA 93". Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. October 2008. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  13. ^ Janardhan, Arun (February 18, 2011). "Shantanu Narayen: A flash of inspiration". Mint. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Eule, Alexander (August 24, 2013). "The Turnaround Artist". Barron's. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "Adobe Names Shantanu Narayen Chief Executive Officer". Business Wire. November 12, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  16. ^ "Adobe Names Shantanu Narayen Chief Executive Officer". Adobe. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  17. ^ "Top 5 Indian origin tech executives in the world". Business Reader. February 3, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  18. ^ "Breaking: Adobe To Acquire Omniture For Approximately $1.8 Billion". TechCrunch. September 15, 2009.
  19. ^ "Adobe to Acquire Omniture". Adobe. September 15, 2009. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List". Fortune. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  21. ^ Michelman, Paul (December 4, 2018). "Key Words for Digital Transformation". MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  22. ^ "President Obama Announces Members of President's Management Advisory Board". March 10, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Shantanu Narayen | Pfizer: One of the world's premier biopharmaceutical companies". www.pfizer.com. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  24. ^ a b "ET Awards 2018 for Global Indian: Shantanu Narayen, Chief Executive Officer, Adobe Systems". The Economic Times. November 18, 2018.
  25. ^ "Adobe Systems president and CEO receives honorary degree". BGSU. Bowling Green State University. May 7, 2011. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011.
  26. ^ "Shantanu Narayen, Ajay Banga named among Fortune Businessperson of the Year 2020". mint. December 4, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  27. ^ "Shantanu Narayen, Ajay Banga named among Fortune Businessperson of the Year 2020". The Economic Times.
  28. ^ "2019 Awardees List".
  29. ^ a b Godavarthi, Srikanth (September 12, 2018). "Thrilled to see what KTR has been doing in tech, says Adobe CEO". The Times of India. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  30. ^ "New professorship in computer science awarded to Chao". Bowling Green State University. July 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  31. ^ "ET Awards 2018 for Global Indian: Shantanu Narayan, Chief Executive Officer, Adobe Systems". The Economic Times. November 18, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  32. ^ Quint, The (December 16, 2020). "Satya Nadella, Shantanu Narayen Invest in a US Cricket League". TheQuint. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

External links edit