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| ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé source: icann.org |
ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé has informed the ICANN Board of Directors that he will be concluding his tenure in March 2016 to move into a new career in the private sector outside the Domain Name Industry.
At the request of the Board, Chehadé will be available to work closely with ICANN after March 2016 to support the transition to a new leader, as well as to advise the Board on any issue they require including the implementation of the IANA Stewardship Transition from the US Government to ICANN and the technical operating community.
"I want to thank Fadi for his strong commitment," said Dr. Stephen Crocker, Chair of the Board of Directors. I am very confident that with Fadi's continued leadership and ICANN's very experienced management team who have the breadth to ensure that ICANN continues to manage its key responsibilities effectively, that the organization's work will proceed smoothly."
"I am deeply committed to working with the Board, our staff, and our community to continue ICANN's mission as we still have much to accomplish," said Chehadé. "During the remaining 10 months of my tenure, it's business-as-usual. My priority remains to continue strengthening ICANN's operations and services to the global community." (source: ICANN)
Last year the ICANN Board extended the contract of Fadi Chehadé by two years, to run until 30 June 2017, and increased his base salary by 12.5 percent. Chehadé joined ICANN in late 2012 and is a citizen of Egypt, Lebanon, and the United States. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Egyptian parents and left the then war-torn country in 1980 at the age of 18. He speaks fluent Arabic, English, French, and Italian. Before joining ICANN as its President and CEO in late 2012, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Vocado LLC, a U.S. firm that is a provider of cloud-based software for the administration of educational institutions.
UPDATES: see What Caused ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé To Quit? and
Statement of Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling on ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade’s announcement that he plans to leave the organization next year:
“Fadi Chehade has served as CEO of ICANN with tireless dedication, and I greatly appreciate his ongoing commitment to improve the accountability and transparency of the organization. NTIA remains committed to the responsible and timely transition of our stewardship of the Internet Domain Name System consistent with the conditions that NTIA outlined in 2014. A successful transition does not depend on the leadership of a single individual, but rather the engagement of the global multistakeholder community working collaboratively to ensure that the Internet remains open, secure, and resilient. I urge the community to remain focused on the important task of developing a transition proposal, including enhanced accountability mechanisms, that fully meets our conditions and can be implemented in a responsible and timely manner.”