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 The executives include the company's North American president, Steve
Orenberg, who is credited with making Kaspersky a major anti-virus
brand in the United States, and its chief technology officer,
Nikolay Grebennikov, who headed global research and development.
Eugene Kaspersky, in an emailed statement, praised Orenberg and his
team for helping shape the success of the anti-virus software maker
in the United States, saying they "made the impossible possible."
However he added that "in evaluating our business and in creating a
plan to move forward in the U.S., we had a disagreement about
business strategy."
Kaspersky did not respond to requests this week via email for more
detailed comment on the departures.
Company spokesman Alejandro Arango told Reuters via email that
Orenberg and Grebennikov left by mutual agreement with the company.
He, too, declined to elaborate on their differences.
It is the second major management shift at the privately-held
company since 2011 when Eugene Buyakin, the chief operating officer,
resigned. At about the same time, the company's co-founder,
chairwoman and former CEO, Natalya Kaspersky, who is also Eugene
Kaspersky's ex-wife, sold her remaining shares in the company.
Buyakin and Natalya Kaspersky told Reuters in 2012 that they severed
ties with the Moscow-based company partly over disappointment that
Eugene Kaspersky had decided to abandon plans to take the company
public. Eugene Kaspersky controls a majority of the stock in
Kaspersky Lab. ( http://reut.rs/1uej38W
)
In a telephone interview, Orenberg declined to explain what the
dispute that led to his departure was about.
"There was a difference of opinion. We basically very politely
agreed to disagree on what we needed to do," he said. "It made sense
for me to make an exit and the company needed to do what it needed
to do."
Orenberg joined Kaspersky 10 years ago. He launched the brand in the
United States, convincing retailers like Best Buy to promote the
once unknown Russian name over well-known products like Symantec
Corp's Norton anti-virus software and McAfee, which is now owned by
Intel Corp.
Grebennikov could not be reached for comment. He joined the company
in 2003 as a systems analyst, was quickly promoted to head
development of its flagship anti-virus software and later all of
research and development.
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"Nikolay led the department for five years and in that time it has
turned into a large industrial development organization. I would
like to sincerely thank Nikolay for the work he has done," Eugene
Kaspersky said in his statement to Reuters.
The company appointed its senior vice president for corporate sales
in North America, Chris Doggett, to the position of managing
director for the region, saying he will be responsible for sales,
marketing and business development.
It also named its deputy CTO, Nikita Shvetsov, as acting
CTO.
Other executives who recently left the company include Petr
Merkulov, the Massachusetts-based North American executive vice
president, and John Malatesta, the Milan-based global head of
corporate marketing. They could not be reached for comment.
The company's U.S.-based vice president of government and strategic
relations, Timur Tsoriev, also left last month. He declined comment.
The company's revenue last year rose 6 percent to $667 million,
according to unaudited results, Arango said.
That was faster than the 3 percent revenue growth posted in 2012,
though slower than the double- and triple-digit percentage growth of
prior years as the company climbed from obscurity to one of the
world's biggest makers of anti-virus software.
Kaspersky was the No. 4 maker of anti-virus software in 2012, behind
Symantec, McAfee and Japan's Trend Micro Inc, according to market
research firm IDC. Data for 2013 is not yet available.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Additional reporting by Alina Selyukh in
Washington; Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Leslie Adler and Paul
Simao)
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