ceo

Mozilla names Gary Kovacs new CEO

Mozilla has found itself a new CEO as it gets ready for the browser battles of tomorrow.

On November 8, Gary Kovacs, who had been serving as a senior vice president at Sybase, will take over Mozilla as its chief executive. He'll be responsible for "leading the overall direction of the organization and its products, including the Firefox Web browser," Mozilla said in a blog post announcing the appointment.

Kovacs has a "deep background in the battlefields that will define the future open Web: mobile and rich media," Mozilla's outgoing chief executive, John Lilly, said in a separate blog post.… Read more

Most CEOs not tapping into social media

A majority 64 percent of CEOs are not using social media to engage with the public and other stakeholders, according to a new study from PR firm Weber Shandwick.

Released yesterday, the report "Socializing Your CEO: From (Un)Social to Social" (PDF) looked at the social media presence and activities of CEOs from the world's top 50 companies.

Among those CEOs profiled, 93 percent have been reaching out to people outside their companies in traditional ways. Most have been quoted in news and business publications, while 40 percent have talked to audiences directly at public events.

But … Read more

Digg bringing back the bury, changing its look

In a note introducing himself to users, Digg's latest CEO Matt Williams, who came on at the end of August, today penned an apology to the Digg community, saying that changes are on the way that should remedy some of the biggest complaints that have cropped up since the company completely retooled the site in late August.

"As many of you know, the launch of Digg v4 didn't go smoothly, and we're deeply sorry that we disappointed our Digg community in the process," Williams said. "Thank you for your patience and your extremely candid … Read more

Tech CEOs find $1 trillion in government savings

The Tech CEO Council, a group made up of top industry CEOs, including Dell's Michael Dell, Intel's Paul Otellini, and Motorola's Greg Brown, has laid out an extensive plan that could help the U.S. government save $1 trillion over the next decade.

Dubbed "One Trillion Reasons," the initiative outlines seven areas where the U.S. government could cut costs or revamp its operational processes to save taxpayers money over the long term. The organization shared its findings with the Obama administration's economic team and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

"… Read more

Skype makes Cisco executive new CEO

Skype has appointed former Cisco Systems Senior Vice President Tony Bates as CEO, the company announced today.

Bates, who has been running Cisco's enterprise division, comes to Skype with more than 20 years of experience in enterprise solutions. The networking giant said he managed Cisco divisions totaling more than 12,500 people and generating $20 billion for the company annually. He currently holds nine patents and has served on YouTube's board of directors.

Josh Silverman, Skype's current CEO, will be leaving the company, though he said that he will work with Bates to help with the "… Read more

New HP chief sees software as 'the glue'

Who exactly is Léo Apotheker?

For many American investors and analysts, the new president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard is a relative unknown. HP held a conference call this morning to formally introduce its new chief executive and take questions about what many are calling a curious choice.

The call was brief and didn't get into many specifics other than that software will play a much larger role in HP's future.

"For me the decision to accept [the position] was an easy one. I don't think there's another company in tech that can match … Read more

CEOs take on White House initiative to drive tech education

A new organization led by major CEOs is hoping to make the U.S. more competitive around the world by putting the focus on education.

Announced by President Obama yesterday as part of his "Educate to Innovate" campaign, Change the Equation is a nonprofit group whose goal is to improve education in the key areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Founded by former Intel Chairman Craig Barrett and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns among other chief executives, and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, the group's membership includes 100 key industry … Read more

LG chief resigns as mobile sales dwindle

The chief executive of South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics resigned today amid declining mobile phone sales, according to news reports.

Nam Yong will be replaced on October 1 by Koo Bon-joon, 59, who is the head of trading firm LG International, Reuters reported. The incoming CEO is a founding family member of the company and younger brother of LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo.

LG said Nam offered his resignation to take responsibility for company's poor management and performance. He was appointed in 2007.

Read more of "LG CEO resigns as mobile sales dwindle" at ZDNet … Read more

Is Nokia's CEO shuffle too little too late?

After three years of watching competitors such as Apple eat its lunch in the smartphone market, Nokia finally has its "aha" moment. But is it too late for the cell phone behemoth to regain its footing?

On Friday the Finnish cell phone maker ousted its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, replacing him with Microsoft exec Stephen Elop. Elop, who is a Canadian citizen, will be the first non-Finnish CEO to head Nokia, the world's No. 1 mobile handset maker. He will start his new job as CEO on September 21.

The change in the executive ranks should come as … Read more

Qualifications needed to be HP's next CEO

The world's largest technology company by revenue and the outfit that birthed Silicon Valley has very suddenly and unexpectedly put out a figurative "help wanted" sign.

After parting ways with CEO Mark Hurd on Friday over inaccurate expense reports and claims (that have been since been settled out of court) of sexual harassment from a former marketing contractor, Hewlett-Packard is already on the hunt for someone to fill his shoes.

The decision was shocking to Wall Street and the tech industry, and has taken some flack. Hurd's success at the company in his five-year tenure is … Read more