Shantanu Narayen (born May 27, 1963) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

business executive. He has been the chairman, president, and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

(CEO) of Adobe Inc. since December 2007. Before this, he was the company's president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

since 2005.

Early life and education

Narayen grew up in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, India, in a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-speaking family, and was the second son of a mother who taught American literature and a father who ran a plastics company. He attended

Hyderabad Public School The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet (HPS, Begumpet) is a privately funded public school in Hyderabad, Telangana State, India. Children are schooled from the pre-primary stage to the 12th standard (ages 3 to 17). The school is affiliated with ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering from University College of Engineering, Osmania University in Hyderabad. He moved to the United States to complete his education, and in 1986 received a master's degree in computer science from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. In 1993 he received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

Haas School of Business The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as Berkeley Haas, is the business school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It was the first business school at a public university i ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Career

Early career

In 1986 Narayen joined a Silicon Valley start-up called Measurex Automation Systems, which made computer control systems for automotive and electronics customers. He then moved to

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

, where he was in senior management positions from 1989 to 1995. After Apple, he served as director of desktop and collaboration products for

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and sof ...

. In 1996 co-founded Pictra Inc., a company that pioneered the concept of digital

photo sharing Image sharing, or photo sharing, is the publishing or transfer of digital photos online. Image sharing websites offer services such as uploading, hosting, managing and sharing of photos (publicly or privately). This function is provided through ...

over the Internet.

Adobe

Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as senior vice-president of worldwide product development, a position he held through 2001. From 2001 to 2005 he was executive vice-president of worldwide products. In 2005 he was appointed president and

CEO

In November 2007, Adobe announced that Bruce Chizen would step down as CEO effective December 1, 2007, to be replaced by Narayen. As CEO, Narayen led the transformation of the company, moving its creative and digital document software franchises – which include flagship programs such as

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...

Premiere Pro Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based and non-linear video editing software application (NLE) developed by Adobe Inc. and published as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud licensing program. First launched in 2003, Adobe Premiere Pro is a success ...

, and

Acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

/ PDF – from the desktop to the cloud. In addition, during his tenure as CEO, Adobe has entered the digital experiences category, an expansion which began with the company’s acquisition of

Omniture Omniture is an online marketing and web analytics business unit in Orem, Utah. It was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2009. Until 2011, Omniture operated as a business unit within Adobe as the "Omniture Business Unit", but as of 2012 Adobe began reti ...

in 2009. In 2018 Adobe exceeded $100 billion in

market cap Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by t ...

and joined the Fortune 400 for the first time. In 2018 it also ranked No. 13 on ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

''’ Most Innovative Companies list.

Honors and awards

In May 2011, Narayen received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater,

. In 2011,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

appointed him as a member of his Management Advisory Board. Narayen is the lead independent director on the board of directors for

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

, and vice chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. In 2018, Narayen was ranked #12 on '' Fortunes "Businessperson of the Year" list, and was deemed "Global Indian of the Year" in 2018 by ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bu ...

'' of India. In 2019, he was a recipient of India's

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

award.

Personal life

Narayen lives in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

. He met his wife Reni while at Bowling Green State University in the mid 1980s; she has a doctorate in clinical psychology. They have two sons. He once represented India in sailing at an Asian Regatta. He, along with Satya Nadella, has also invested in

Major League Cricket Major League Cricket (MLC) is an upcoming professional Twenty20 cricket league in the United States. Operated by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket, it plans to begin play on July 13, 2023, with six teams in major ...

to be hosted by the American Cricket Enterprises (ACE).

References

External links

Adobe.com: Shantanu Narayen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayen, Shantanu Living people Telugu people Businesspeople from Hyderabad, India American technology chief executives Haas School of Business alumni Indian technology chief executives Indian emigrants to the United States Adobe Inc. people Silicon Graphics people Osmania University alumni Bowling Green State University alumni Businesspeople in computing Pfizer people American chief operating officers Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American people of Indian descent American computer businesspeople American chief executives American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies Chief executives in the technology industry American people of Telugu descent American computer scientists 1963 births