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Bruce Chizen photo 2003

Bruce R. Chizen (born 1956) is an American business executive, and the former president and CEO of Adobe Systems.

Education[]

Chizen grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie and received his undergraduate degree at Brooklyn College.[1][2]

Career[]

Prior to working at Adobe, Chizen was a regional sales manager at Microsoft and vice president at Claris, a subsidiary of Apple Computer. After Aldus Corporation acquired Silicon Beach Software, he was appointed the VP and general manager of the studio in San Diego.[2]

Adobe[]

In August 1994, Aldus was merged into Adobe Systems.[3][4] In April 2000, Chizen succeeded Charles Geschke as the president of Adobe. By December of that year, he succeeded John Warnock as CEO.[1]

Chizen presided over the acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe in December 2005.[5] He stated that it was "all about growth." However, the deal was also a defensive maneuver against the influence of Microsoft, with Chizen saying, "They have a $40 billion monopoly with unlimited resources, I'll never not worry about them."[6]

Chizen stepped down from his position at Adobe and was succeeded by Shantanu Narayen on December 1, 2007. About his departure, Chizen said: "I'm not leaving under any cloud. There's no severance agreement. I'm taking a break, and the reason I feel comfortable taking a break is because the company is in such good shape."[7]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Bruce Chizen Biography, Encyclopedia of World Biography. Accessed 2020-04-21.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Business Leaders: Bruce R. Chizen, MarketScreener. Accessed 2020-04-20.
  3. Aldus and Adobe Lay Claim to Digital Publishing by Laurie Flynn, The New York Times. 1994-08-24.
  4. Aldus and Adobe Systems Finalize Merger, Computer History Museum. 1994-08-31.
  5. Adobe Completes Acquisition of Macromedia, Adobe Systems. 2005-12-05. Archived 2005-12-07.
  6. Adobe's Deal for Macromedia May Help It Fend Off Microsoft by Laurie J. Flynn, The New York Times. 2005-12-12.
  7. Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen steps down, President Shantanu Narayen to take helm by Rachel Conrad, The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-11-13.

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