The Indian-born chairman and CEO of the $600 million VeriFone, Inc, Hatim A Tyabji, has finally decided to call it a day at the helm signifying the 'complete takeover' of the electronic commerce company by Hewlett Packard following its acquisition by the latter in early 1997.
Hatim's decision to step down as chairman, president and CEO also follows changes being made at its wholly-owned subsidiary in India, VeriFone India, based in Bangalore. Giri Khatod, the current country manager and CEO of the Indian subsidiary, is expected to take over as head of Verifone's south east Asia's operations at Singapore. Atul Saran, head, Indian marketing division, is slated to take over as the next Indian CEO.
"The formal announcement has not yet been made. However, Giri Khatod has moved to Singapore to join as head of south east Asian operation. At the moment, I'm in his shoes," said Atul Saran.
While Atul confirmed the changes in Indian subsidiary, he declined to comment on the background leading to Hatim's retirement plans.
While Hatim, now a naturalised US citizen, had formally announced his plans to retire end-1998, sources close to the company claimed it was the fall-out of the $38.4 billion HP's move to bring VeriFone's management completely under its fold. At the time of HP's takeover of Verifone, Hatim had stated that both companies would try to leverage on each other's strengths. However, despite HP's acquisition, VeriFone continued to source its need for hardware from HP's staunch rival, Bell Computers. Sources claimed this did not go well with HP.
Hatim, who has been with Verifone for over a decade, was said to be 'too independent' in his management style.
VeriFone said it will continue to operate as an independent wholly owned organisation, and will report to William Russell, vice president and general manager of HP's enterprise systems group. "Tyabji will remain active in the company through the end of the year and will assist Russell in the selection of his successor," HP said. It said it expects the selection process to take several months.
"Hatim has built an exceptional company with a very strong culture that it similar to HP," said Lewis E Platt HP chairman, president and CEO. "When he retires at the end of this year, he will leave a strong, global organisation that is a leader in the pivotal payment market and a company that will continue to play an important role in HP's future direction in electronic commerce. We're grateful for his contributions" he said.
Tyabji was born in Mumbai, in 1945. His major accomplishments include leading VeriFone's initial public offering in 1990, helping to move the company aggressively into the emerging world of electronic commerce through the Internet with the acquisition of EIT in 1995.
VeriFone is the leading global provider of secure electronic payment solutions for financial institutions, merchants and consumers.
