The change, which had unanimous approval at the board's latest meeting, is effective at the San Jose -based company's annual shareholder meeting on November 15. Chambers succeeds John Morgridge, who will become chairman emeritus.

Morgridge has been with Cisco for 18 years, serving as CEO until 1995 when he became chairman and handed the CEO title to Chambers. During Chambers' tenure, Cisco shares rose 10-fold and annual sales climbed from $1.2 billion to $24.8 billion.

Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as senior VP of worldwide sales and operations. Prior to joining Cisco, he spent eight years at Wang Laboratories and six years with IBM.

"Today's unanimous decision by the board of directors underscores our high level of confidence in John Chambers' leadership over his 15-year tenure at Cisco, and his ability to shape the future direction of the company," Morgridge said in a statement.

"I will be honored to serve Cisco's shareholders, customers, partners and employees as CEO and Chairman," added Chambers in the statement. "We're building a management team for the 21st century that emphasizes collaborative leadership built on teamwork that drives innovation and speed of execution -- I couldn't be more proud of what Cisco has accomplished as a team."

Cisco's board also announced plans to buy back up to $5 billion in stock, raising its total buyback from a previously planned $35 billion. The board outlined no fixed timetable for the buyback program.

By: DocMemory
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