WebProNews

It’s the end of an era at VeriSign - Stratton Sclavos, the company’s CEO, has resigned.  “[T]he leading provider of digital infrastructure for the networked world” will now be managed by William A. Roper, Jr.

Why Sclavos stepped down remains unclear, however; an official statement from VeriSign mentions a potential reason - “the review of the company’s historical stock option grant practices by an ad hoc group of independent members of VeriSign’s Board of Directors is substantially completed” - but then goes on to point out that “[t]he review did not find intentional wrongdoing by any current member of senior management, including Sclavos.”

In the end, we may never know.  Sclavos is, in any event, staying positive, and has stated, “I want to thank the people of VeriSign for their support and contributions over the past 12 years.  I am proud of my role in building VeriSign into the great company it has become, and wish all of my associates the very best in the coming years.”

Sounds like a nice fella, right?  No word on any “golden parachutes,” but it seems reasonable to assume that any CEO who’s wisely managed his (or her) money has nothing to worry about.

VeriSign’s stockholders also appear to be in the clear - after an initial dive in value, the company’s shares are now trading near a 52-week high.  Yet, from our eBusiness angle, it’ll be interesting to see if Sclavos’s resignation has an effect on domain name prices and his (former) company’s scuffles with ICANN.