CA's CEO Swainson To Retire By Year's End

Swainson, who took the reins of CA five years ago, will be remembered for his successful efforts to stabilize the company after a number of turbulent years that saw former CEO Sanjay Kumar sent to prison for 12 years in 2006 for manipulating CA's earnings.

"We have restored CA's business momentum, delivered 14 quarters of solid financial results and are positioning the company for the next phase of growth driven by promising technologies that include virtualization and cloud computing," Swainson said in a statement. "This is the opportune time to transition to new leadership as CA begins its drive to the next level."

Swainson will retire on Dec. 31 or earlier if a successor is chosen before then, the company said. His tenure as a member of CA's board of directors also will end when he retires.

Swainson, 55, was named CEO of Computer Associates (later renamed CA) in February, 2005 after a 26-year career at IBM, which included serving as vice president of worldwide sales for the company's Software Group and general manager of its WebSphere software line.

Swainson's appointment came in the wake of several very turbulent years for CA, including a two-year investigation of the company's accounting practices by federal prosecutors that resulted in the company restating its financial results for 1999 through 2004. In 2006 former CEO Sanjay Kumar pleaded guilty to security fraud and other charges and is serving a 12-year prison sentence.

Swainson reorganized CA, focusing on its core technology strengths in systems management, security, business process management and data storage, and worked to improve tarnished relations with channel partners and customers.