This is shaping up to be a year of transition in Silicon Valley.
On Monday, Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO, +0.65% CEO John Chambers announced plans to step down after 20 years on the job, marking the final exit of a CEO from a 1990s tech powerhouse—at least among those that are still publicly traded.
Chambers joined Cisco as head of sales in 1991 and was promoted to CEO in January 1995. During his tenure, sales at Cisco climbed nearly 4,000% to $ 47 billion in fiscal 2014 from $ 1.2 billion in fiscal 1995. Non-GAAP earnings per share have jumped by more than 3,000%.
But it wasn't a cakewalk. Chambers navigated the company through the dot-com bubble, the financial crisis of 2008, and through the current period of exponential technological innovation that no longer rewards huge legacy equipment businesses.
Shares of Cisco still haven't recovered from the dot-com crash, having peaked at $ 79.38 on March, 24, 2000. They most recently traded around $ 29.29.
In February 2013, after the company's second-quarter earnings report, Chambers warned of a "challenging economic environment." Its shares are up about 35% since then. Despite the dot-com crash, they rose about 1,440% during Chambers' tenure.
The executive's departure underscores a broader shift in Silicon Valley that has been occurring over the last decade, and has ushered in such developments as the addition of Apple Inc. to the prestigious Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Apple AAPL, +0.26% became the first next-generation technology company to be added to the Dow 30 in March, replacing AT&T T, +0.49% Apple joined Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -0.32% and Intel Corp. INTC, +0.00% both added in 1999, as well as Cisco, which was added in 2009.
Chambers' departure serves as a torch-handoff, of sorts, to Silicon Valley's new superpowers that specialize in social media networks, mobile devices and connectivity, from the industry's previous hardware and software powerhouses. These include companies like Cisco, Microsoft, Dell and Intel—who were once known as the Four Horsemen for their domination during the 1990s and the role they played in turning the valley into a global tech hub.
The remaining three Horsemen have also dismantled their 1990s leadership teams.
Michael Dell still heads Dell, but his company exited the public equity markets in 2013 through a private equity deal, after struggling to turn around after years of underperformance.
Microsoft's founder and first CEO, Bill Gates, quit that role in 2000, and stepped down as chairman in 2014. Intel is on its third CEO since Andrew Grove, who served as CEO from 1987 to 1998.
In a statement on Monday, Chambers said his replacement, longtime executive Chuck Robbins, has the speed to capitalize on the unprecedented pace of innovation in the technology industry.
"Today's pace of change is exponential," he said. "Every company, city and country is becoming digital, navigating disruptive markets, and Cisco's role in the digital transformation has never been more important. Our next CEO needs to thrive in a highly dynamic environment, to be capable of accelerating what is working very well for Cisco, and disrupting what needs to change."
Cisco's own tagline at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was "The Internet of Everything," where it showcased how its networks are powering everything from cars to homes.
Don't expect Chambers to evaporate into thin air come July. In his new role, he will focus on building relationships with country officials as Cisco looks to digitize governments around the world–an extension of the company's lofty goal to "digitize everything".
It's a topic Chambers has spoken of at length this year, including on the company's blog in February when he announced that France would be the program's launch partner.
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