- After 30 years in the position
- Accolades, praise and thanks for de Geus
- Sassine Ghazi taking over
- de Geus will remain as Executive Chair at Synopsys
- de Geus spoke at length and said 145 words
(exechange) — Sunnyvale, California, August 16, 2023 — Aart de Geus, chief executive of Synopsys, leaves his position. As announced by Synopsys Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, Aart J. de Geus leaves his post as chief executive officer at the chip design software company, after 30 years in the role, effective January 1, 2024.
It is the end of an era.
Aart de Geus’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Sassine Ghazi, currently President and Chief Operating Officer at Synopsys Inc.
“Close and trusting collaboration”
The planned management change is explained as follows. Synopsys stated: “In their new roles, de Geus and Ghazi will continue their close and trusting collaboration to maintain and extend Synopsys’ high vitality culture, technology leadership, and excellent business growth, as they have demonstrated in recent years.”
Ghazi also joined Synopsys’ Board of Directors, effective August 13, 2023.
de Geus will remain as Executive Chair at Synopsys
Synopsys stated: “Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Sassine Ghazi as president and Chief Executive Officer effective on Jan. 1, 2024. At that time, Aart de Geus, chair and CEO will transition into the role of Executive Chair of Synopsys’ Board of Directors.”
“Step down”
Synopsys said: “On August 12, 2023, Aart J. de Geus informed the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Synopsys, Inc. (“Synopsys”) of his intent to step down as Chief Executive Officer of Synopsys, effective January 1, 2024.”
Share price increase since August 2018
The announcement follows an increase in Synopsys Inc.’s share price of 387% since August 2018.
In the position of CEO since 1994
Aart de Geus became CEO of the Company in 1994.
Aart de Geus co-founded Synopsys and has served as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors since December 1986, Chairperson of the Company’s Board of Directors from 1986 to 1992 and again since February 1998 and Chief Executive Officer since January 1994.
Since the inception of Synopsys in December 1986, de Geus has held a variety of positions, including President, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Senior Vice President of Marketing.
From May 2012 to April 2022, he shared the position of co-Chief Executive Officer with Chi-Foon Chan.
Aart de Geus has also served on the board of directors of Applied Materials, Inc. since July 2007.
145 words by Aart de Geus
In the news release announcing his departure as CEO of Synopsys Inc., Aart de Geus received accolades, praise and thanks.
In announcing his departure, Aart de Geus spoke at length and said 145 words.
“‘Yes, if…’ mindset”
Aart de Geus stated: “I am ecstatic about Sassine’s transition into the CEO role. With 25 years of his career at Synopsys, Sassine embodies our values and culture, has driven very innovative technology, has strong operational experience in running our company, and has built deep, trusting relationships with our customers and partners. At heart, Sassine is a profoundly positive person with a ‘Yes, if…’ mindset, a results-oriented approach, stellar people leadership skills, and a deep passion for customers. With his outstanding track record and great talents, I’m excited about Sassine’s transition into the CEO role! Regarding my own path forward. aside from first and foremost supporting Sassine, my focus will be to champion our unique culture and technical innovation both in and outside the company. In all cases, my support of Sassine will be seamless and encouraging as he brings fresh, ambitious, and exciting new leadership to our company!”
Push-out Score for Aart de Geus’s move determined
The Push-out Score indicates on a scale of 0 to 10 how likely it is that Aart de Geus was pushed out or felt pressure to leave his position.
exechange reached out to Synopsys and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 34.2023 ($).