Iacobucci leaves Citrix

In a shock move announced this morning, Citrix Systems, Inc founder and chairman Ed Iacobucci has left the company.

The driving force behind the creation of Windows terminal server technology has resigned “to pursue his vision of software as a service in cooperation with Citrix and
other industry leaders,” according to a statement issued by the company today. He gives up his positions as chairman and CTO and will no longer serve either as a director or an employee of the company.

Extending the management shake-up is the resignation of Mark Templeton as CEO. He will remain as president and continue to assist in running the company’s operations during the search for a new CEO. Another casualty is the resignation of board member Michael Brown.

The company’s former CEO from 1990 to 1998, Roger Roberts, has assumed the role of Chairman and will also act as chief operating officer until a new CEO has been appointed.

Citrix management has been in the spotlight since warning on Jun 12th that its second quarter results – due to be announced Jul 19th – were likely to be lower than previously anticipated. Its shares slumped by almost 60% in response to the news and have since failed to recover.

Company officers maintained that the primary cause of the expected shortfall was a shift by its customers to corporate licensing, which had resulted in excess inventory building up in its distribution channel. But it has faced a number of lawsuits filed by investors, alleging the company misrepresented its financial condition and growth potential.