F5 CEO Manny Rivelo
Former F5 Networks CEO Manny Rivelo. (File Photo)

F5 Networks CEO Manny Rivelo, who took the position less than five months ago, resigned this weekend due to unspecified “personal conduct matters,” the company announced in an SEC filing on Monday. He will be replaced by former F5 CEO John McAdam while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

Former (and new) F5 CEO John McAdam
F5 CEO John McAdam

“I want to emphasize that these actions are in no way related to the Company’s operating performance or financial condition,” F5’s Lead Independent Director on the board Alan Higginson said in a statement. “This change in management, while unexpected, is strictly related to personal conduct matters. We are confident that F5 will be in good hands with John leading the Company forward.”

Rivelo, who replaced longtime CEO McAdam in July, first joined F5 in 2011, after 19 years with Cisco. He was in charge of the company’s strategic development, product management and global marketing strategy as Executive Vice President of Strategic Solutions before being named as McAdam’s successor back in April.

The SEC filing says his resignation was “not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.”

GeekWire has reached out to F5 for more details and will update this post when we hear more. McAdam was headed into retirement when he left the company after 15 years.

Update: A F5 spokesperson tells GeekWire McAdam will only serve as interim CEO “during this time of need.”

F5 stock is up 1.74 percent in after-hours trading, at $97.99/share.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Here is the text of the news release issued by the company today.

Seattle, WA – December 14, 2015 – F5 Networks, Inc. (“F5” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: FFIV), a global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN) technology, today announced that John McAdam, Chairman of the F5 Board of Directors, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. McAdam joined F5 in July 2000, and served as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in July 2015. In connection with this appointment, Mr. McAdam will remain a member of the F5 Board but will step down as Chairman in order to focus on his executive duties and actively lead the Company forward. Alan Higginson, who currently serves as F5’s Lead Independent Director, has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. All actions are effective immediately.

Mr. McAdam succeeds Manuel Rivelo who has resigned from his position of President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the F5 Board of Directors for matters regarding personal conduct unrelated to the operations or financials of the Company.

“The Board believes John is best suited to lead the Company as F5 continues its evolution to expand our offerings and grow across our product suite. As a longtime F5 executive, John has a deep understanding of our business, operations and strategy, and an appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our employees,” said Mr. Higginson. “The Board is confident his 15-years of leadership experience at F5 will allow him to seamlessly take on the responsibilities of President and CEO, and looks forward to his immediate contributions.”

Mr. McAdam said, “I look forward to immediately re-engaging on a day to day basis with F5’s dedicated and passionate team of employees as we further our mission to help clients deliver the most secure, fast and reliable applications to anyone, anywhere, at any time. I am excited about the opportunities F5 has before it in new hybrid cloud architectures, application security and to capitalize on emerging technology trends. I would like to add that the Board of Directors and the executive leadership team remain fully committed to the strategy and financial targets we articulated in our earnings announcement on October 28, 2015.”

Mr. McAdam continued, “I want to thank Manny for his many contributions to F5 over the past four years. Manny has been a key member of F5’s strong leadership team who have developed our current strategy.”

Mr. Higginson added, “I want to emphasize that these actions are in no way related to the Company’s operating performance or financial condition. This change in management, while unexpected, is strictly related to personal conduct matters. We are confident that F5 will be in good hands with John leading the Company forward.”

While Mr. McAdam leads F5 as President and CEO, the Board will undertake a formal search process to identify a permanent successor.

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