Chehade quits as ICANN CEO
ICANN president and CEO Fadi Chehade will step down from the post March 2016, he said in the last hour.
The shock news means he will have served just three and a half years in the top job by the time he leaves. He started September 14, 2012.
It sounds like he might already has a new job lined up. (UPDATE: He’s told AFP that he does, and the identity of his employer will be disclosed later this year.)
He’s told ICANN he intends “to move into a new career in the private sector (outside the Domain Name Industry)”, according to a press release.
Chehade will probably leave just about the same time as the transition of the IANA functions from US government oversight is finalized, assuming ICANN misses the target date of September 2015 and gets a six-month extension.
Here’s the full text of the press release:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that President and CEO Fadi Chehadé has informed the Board he will be concluding his tenure in March 2016 to move into a new career in the private sector (outside the Domain Name Industry).
At the request of the Board, Chehadé will be available to work closely with ICANN after March 2016 to support the transition to a new leader, as well as to advise the Board on any issue they require including the implementation of the IANA Stewardship Transition from the US Government to ICANN and the technical operating community.
“I want to thank Fadi for his strong commitment,” said Dr. Stephen Crocker, Chair of the Board of Directors. I am very confident that with Fadi’s continued leadership and ICANN’s very experienced management team who have the breadth to ensure that ICANN continues to manage its key responsibilities effectively, that the organization’s work will proceed smoothly.”
“I am deeply committed to working with the Board, our staff, and our community to continue ICANN’s mission as we still have much to accomplish,” said Chehadé. “During the remaining 10 months of my tenure, it’s business-as-usual. My priority remains to continue strengthening ICANN’s operations and services to the global community.”
Personally, I think this is going to be horrible for continuity at ICANN. Chehade is a vision guy who had set out long-term goals for the organization that I don’t think he’ll be able to wrap up in his remaining 10 months.
What do you think?
The timing stinks. The org is taking a big risk that IANA will be delayed only 6 months. Bringing on a new CEO (with associated re-orgs) would be a huge distraction if the transition is still incomplete.
Outside of the domain industry doesn’t mean outside Internet governance, or outside IP addressing, or outside IP protocol parameters…
Will any of those areas pay him a million dollars a year? Unlikely.
Most employees barely give their employer two weeks notice. Good to see he’s giving almost 10 months.
When your the CEO of an organization, it behooves everyone to give ample time. Nobody wants to hire a CEO who quit with a meager 2 weeks notice at his last position.
Oops, forgot to include my [sarcasm] tags in that previous comment.
Looking at this another way, his contract runs through 2017. So why leave early?
Either the perfect job came open and this was the longest/latest he could delay a move, or he’s had enough and been actively searching.
I expect smart folks like Kevin will ultiamtely get the whole story.
Perfect job came along, or to many issues to deal with based on past calls made.
What will happen to all his friends from past jobs that he hired for ICANN? Surely he wont leave them behind?
Perhaps this time around the board will hire a CEO who believes in hiring staff from outside their own social circle.
Note to Dr. Crocker: Leaving a contract 2 years early does not equate to “strong commitment”.
Hello Kevin,
Congress is having second thoughts about relinquishing control of ICANN. With Chehade’s seeming disregard for Consumer Protections and the releasing of the Quasi-Derivative gTLDs and the coming Spoof-Spamm Episodes and Collisions they are causing, has caused Congress to re-evaluate All Chehade’s initiatives. JAS 5/26/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Ananalyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist)
Hello Kevin,
The new Quasi-Derivative gTLDs are all about Maintaining and perpetuating GOOGLES Monopolistic SEM Marketing Model.The Big Macro-Economic results of their introduction causes many chains of events, whose end result sqwelches Small Online Business’s chances for Online Survival. Once this ENIGMA puzzle is fully understood and this Diabolical Genius Online Strategy of GOOGLES is exposed and it becomes fully understood , our premise will be realized as FACTUAL. ( New gTLD = GOOGLE TOTAL LEASE DEPENDENCY)
In depth explanations to follow on LinkedIn JAS 5/21/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist)
What do you think?
12 Comments Tagged: ICANN
The New Quasi-Derivative gTLDs are not the answer to Maximum Online Business EXPANSION, They are the BARRIER TO MAXIMUM ONLINE BUSINESS EXPANSION.They are in actuality the Vehicles to continue the Suppression of Online Business Expansion. Here is the Big Macro-economic Picture. The Country that breaks free, and transcends the SEM Model for Online Business Suppresion, will be the next Catalyst for the largest Business Expansion the world has ever seen. Will our Domestic US Economy be first? Can the US Break the GOOGLE HABIT ? JAS 5/18/15
Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist)