Symantec Fires CEO

Symantec Corp’s board has fired Chief Executive Enrique Salem and replaced him with Chairman Steve Bennett, who launched a strategic review in a bid to turn around the security software company whose stock has languished for years.

Shares of Symantec jumped nearly 14 percent as some investors speculated that Bennett might consider divesting assets or splitting up the company. Symantec also issued a quarterly outlook that was below analysts’ projections as it reported earnings for the fiscal first quarter.

“I took this job because I believe that our assets are better than our performance,” Bennett told analysts.

Bennett, 58, is a former CEO of financial software maker Intuit Corp who was also an executive at General Electric Co. He declined to say whether he would consider divesting any assets, but said he was not brought in to sell the company.

“The agreement I have with the board is to create long-term shareholder value,” he said. “This is my third job in a 35-year business career. This will be my last job.”

Investor disappointment with Symantec’s performance traces back to 2004, when Salem’s predecessor, John Thompson, announced plans to buy storage software maker Veritas for $13.5 billion.

The deal failed to generate the growth that Thompson had envisioned. Symantec - whose rivals include Intel Corp’s McAfee division in security along with EMC Corp, Oracle Corp and CommVault Systems Inc in storage - reported mixed results in the following years, repeatedly disappointing Wall Street.

Salem, 48, inherited that legacy when he took over as CEO three years ago and the problems continued under his leadership. Over the course of his tenure as CEO, Symantec shares fell about 19 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed about 77 percent.

Salem could not be reached for comment.