Internet security company McAfee Inc. Monday said Stephen Richards, its chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will retire at the end of the year to spend time with his family.

Santa Clara-based McAfee, the former Network Associates Inc., said that it has begun a search for a new financial chief and will eliminate the title of operating chief.

Richards, 50, joined McAfee as finance chief in April 2001, was named chief operating officer in November 2001, and served as a member of the company's core management team. Richards came to McAfee from E-Trade Financial Corp. where he was chief financial officer.

In morning trading, shares of McAfee were at $19.61, down 17 cents, or 0.9 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Steve has been instrumental in restoring McAfee's financial health, and the company's credibility with its shareholders and the investment community," Chairman and Chief Executive George Samenuk said.

McAfee, with 2003 revenue of $936.3 million, recently completed a major overhaul of its business, including a number of unit divestitures and acquisitions, to return to its roots as a security company.

The strategic shift culminated in April, when it announced the sale of its Sniffer Technologies unit and changed the company name from Network Associates to McAfee after its well-known security-product brand.

In August, McAfee agreed to buy Foundstone Inc., a closely held network-vulnerability management company, for $86 million.


Source : The Associated Press