Ellen Hancock named Exodus CEO
The former Apple executive, who resigned in a palace coup in 1997, finds herself at the top of another Silicon Valley company.
Web solutions firm Exodus Communications today announced that it has promoted Hancock to chief executive officer, with hopes that she can guide Exodus to larger market share and growth. Hancock has been serving as president of Exodus since March.
Shares of the company are trading near their 52-week low, down 5.58 percent today at 24.31. The stock has traded as high as 53 and as low as 23 during the past 52 weeks.
Exodus went public in March, raising $72 million. The company's shares initially were priced at $15 per share but opened trading at $24.75.
The company's cofounder and former chief executive officer, K. B. Chandrasekhar, will remain chairman of Exodus's board of directors and continue to focus his efforts on new business development and strategies.
"We have tremendous opportunities before us and Ellen has proven that she has the ability to take this company to the next level," Chandrasekhar said in a statement. "Her expertise and leadership have helped us achieve aggressive company milestones, and we're confident in her ability to grow our U.S. customer base and expand our business internationally."
Exodus is a provider of Internet system and network management solutions for enterprise operations. The company manages Internet Web sites and its network infrastructure from Internet Data Centers in several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. It also operates a server hosting facility in London. Additional centers are planned for the Chicago metropolitan area in the first quarter of 1999 and the London metropolitan area in the second quarter of 1999.
"It has been a thrill and a challenge to help lead Exodus through explosive growth over the past six months, a hugely successful IPO, and the daily challenges we face as a pioneer in the industry," Hancock said of her promotion. "We have a talented team that continues to grow and deliver on the company's vision of making the Internet an integral part of mission-critical enterprises."
Prior to joining Exodus, Hancock, 55, served as Apple's executive vice president of research & development as well as its chief technology officer. She was hired by the computer maker to help shake the company from its doldrums, but ultimately was ousted along with then CEO Gil Amelio. Before Apple, Hancock served asNational Semiconductor's executive vice president and chief operating officer, and was a member of the office of the president at the company.
Hancock also spent 29 years at IBM in a variety of positions.
Currently, Hancock serves on the board of directors at several companies, including Colgate-Palmolive and Aetna.