Technology >> CEO Interviews >> January 10, 2002

Robert Stephens – Adaptec Inc (adpt)

ROBERT N. STEPHENS is Chief Executive Officer and President of Adaptec, Inc. He joined Adaptec as Chief Operating Officer in November 1995, became President in October 1998, and CEO in April 1999. Before coming to Adaptec, Mr. Stephens was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Power I/O, a firm that developed serial interface solutions for high-speed data networking. Power I/O was acquired by Adaptec in 1995. Prior to founding Power I/O, Mr. Stephens was President and CEO of Emulex Corporation. During his tenure there, he refocused the companys operations to develop core ASIC technology and networking products. His restructuring efforts helped create rapid growth for the companys networking division, and led to the spinoff of its SCSI business as QLogic. Before Emulex, Mr Stephens was Senior Vice President, General Manager, and Founder of the Microcomputer Products Group at Western Digital Corporation. His career began at IBM, where he served over 15 years in a variety of management positions. Mr. Stephens holds a Masters Degree in from San Jose State University. Profile
TWST: Could we start with a brief overview of the history and evolution of Adaptec, Inc.?



Mr. Stephens: Adaptec has been a provider of value-add and high-performance peripheral