Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen Stepping Down After 18-Year Run
Adobe's longtime chief executive will transition to board chair once a successor is found. Stock dropped 6%+ after hours.
Shantanu Narayen is leaving the top job at Adobe. The design software giant announced its CEO will step down once the company finds his replacement, transitioning to the role of executive chair.
Narayen has led Adobe since 2007 — an 18-year tenure that transformed the company from a boxed software seller into a cloud subscription juggernaut. Under his watch, Adobe became synonymous with creative tools and pushed aggressively into AI-powered features.
Wall Street wasn't thrilled with the news. ADBE shares dropped more than 6% in after-hours trading, signaling investor anxiety about a leadership vacuum at one of tech's most established players.
No successor has been named yet. Narayen staying on as board chair gives Adobe some continuity, but the clock is ticking on finding someone to steer the ship through an increasingly AI-disrupted creative software market.