Synopsys Taps Sassine Ghazi To Succeed Aart De Geus As CEO

The Mountain View, Calif.-based semiconductor, automation, and security testing specialist announced on Wednesday that Sassine Ghazi, the company’s president and COO, will take over from longtime leader and co-founder Aart de Geus as CEO at the beginning of next year. As its next chief executive, Ghazi promises to ‘propel Synopsys to even greater heights of success.’

Synopsys said Sassine Ghazi, right, will assume president and CEO role on Jan. 1, 2024.

Synopsys has tapped its second-in-command to succeed longtime leader and co-founder Aart de Geus as CEO.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based semiconductor, automation, and security testing specialist announced on Wednesday that Sassine Ghazi, the company’s president and COO, will take over from de Geus as CEO at the beginning of next year. Ghazi will retain his title as president with the move.

[Related: Synopsys Buying SaaS Security Company WhiteHat For $330 Million]

As a result, de Geus will become executive chairman of Synopsys’ board. Ghazi joined the company’s board on Sunday.

A 25-year veteran at the company, Ghazi has decades of experience in chip design, applications engineering, customer support, sales and business management, according to Synopsys.

“I am ecstatic about Sassine’s transition into the CEO role. With 25 years of his career at Synopsys, Sassine embodies our values and culture, has driven very innovative technology, has strong operational experience in running our company, and has built deep, trusting relationships with our customers and partners,” de Geus said in a statement.

Ghazi rose to second-in-command for Synopsys after the company appointed him chief operating officer in August 2020 and then president a little over a year later when Chi-Foon Chan stepped down from his role as co-CEO.

“Following a systematic, multi-year succession planning process and speaking for the entire board, we are delighted to promote Sassine to become our next president and CEO and thank Aart for the exemplary transition,” said Roy Vallee, lead independent director of Synopsys’ board, in a statement.

Ghazi said he is “incredibly honored and profoundly grateful” for the board choosing him as the company’s next leader.

“As I step into the role of CEO, I am fueled by an unwavering determination to build upon our strong foundation, drive innovation, and propel Synopsys to even greater heights of success,” he said in a statement.

Synopsys credited de Geus with growing the company, which he founded in 1986, “from a disruptive start-up to a technology and market leader in electronic design automation, design IP, and software security” that now employs 20,000 people and generated roughly $5.5 billion in revenue over the past 12 months.

“Regarding my own path forward, aside from first and foremost supporting Sassine, my focus will be to champion our unique culture and technical innovation both in and outside the company,” de Geus said in his closing remarks.

“In all cases, my support of Sassine will be seamless and encouraging as he brings fresh, ambitious, and exciting new leadership to our company,” he added.