Greg Johnson to Take Reins as McAfee CEO

McAfee Corp. announced this week that Greg Johnson has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 13, 2022. 

Johnson succeeds Peter Leav, who will be stepping down after serving just over two years as President and CEO. Leav 

Johnson’s appointment comes as part of the Company’s transition to a pure-play consumer security company, which began after McAfee sold off its Enterprise security business in 2021.

Johnson joins McAfee from Intuit, where he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Prior to Intuit, Johnson held leadership roles for brands including Kraft, Kodak, Best Buy, Gillette, and Advanced Auto Parts. he also currently serves on the Board of Directors at Qualcomm.

“Greg brings more than 25 years of consumer business experience at truly innovative, leading brands,” said Bruce Chizen, Chairman of McAfee’s Board of Directors. “Greg holds an impressive track record of cultivating multi-billion-dollar growth strategies for consumer businesses while delivering increasing value to customers.”

McAfee, founded in 1987 by the late John McAfee, has been on a dizzying ride around the industry, with the legacy brand changing hands many times. 

McAfee was acquired by Intel in 2010 for $7.68 billion and in 2014 the chipmaker announced that McAfee would become Intel Security. In 2016, Intel decided that McAfee would again become an independent company after TPG Capital acquired a 51% stake. McAfee hit public markets again via a NASDAQ listing in 2020, raising roughly $620 million. In 2021, the company shed its enterprise business, offloading it to Symphony Technology Group (STG) in a $4 billion deal. It was was taken private again in March 2022, in a deal north of $14 billion led by Advent International.

Read: Antivirus Pioneer John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison