Fiorina quits Cisco board

Chambers draws $1 salary (with $85m share options)

HP chief exec Carly Fiorina is to ditch her directorship of Cisco later this year, according to a regulatory filing by the networking giant.

Fiorina has decided not to stand for re-election as a Cisco non-executive director and will part ways with the networking giant after its November 11 annual meeting. Both companies say Fiorina's departure, after almost three years on Cisco's board, is amicable.

Although Cisco and HP compete in workgroup LAN switch, with their Catalyst and ProCurve lines respectively, the firms are partners in other market segments. HP resells Cisco's storage switches and services to many of its clients.

Yesterday Cisco also disclosed that its chief executive, John Chambers, received a token $1 salary and no bonus for the second year in succession. But don't fret on his behalf. The Cisco boss received stock options over the last year worth $85 million.

"John himself has stated that his compensation will remain at the $1 level until the market recognizes Cisco's turnaround," said Cisco spokeswoman Robyn Jenkins-Blum told Reuters.

Last month, Cisco reported net sales for fiscal 2003 were $18.9bn, the same as 2002. However net income for 2003 was a much healthier $3.6 billion (FY 2002: $1.9bn). ®

Related Stories

Cisco woe as HP's Fiorina joins board
Cisco boss slashes salary to $1
Cisco Q4 profits up
HP claims IBM price scalp for Cisco storage switches