Corel CEO Dobson to Depart

Corel CEO David Dobson is leaving the company after three years to take a senior executive position at an unnamed Fortune 500 company.

Corel Corporation has announced that its CEO, David Dobson, will be leaving the company before the end of June to take a senior executive position with an unnamed U.S.-based Fortune 500 company. In the meantime, Dobson and the Corel board are working on a transition strategy and have initiated a search for a new CEO. Dobson took over as Corel CEO in mid-2005; Dobson had previously served for almost two decades at IBM in senior management roles.

“I am honored to have worked with some of the most talented and creative people in the software industry,” said Dobson, in a statement. “While the decision to leave Corel was difficult, I believe that the opportunity before me is the right decision for me and my family. I thank Corel’s Board of Directors for their support and am committed to supporting the Company through this transition process.”

Corel is best known for its WordPerfect word processor along with its Paint Shop line of image editing software, although the company has been expanding into new areas through the acquisition of WinZip, InterVideo, and Jasc. The company has found some success in recent years striking OEM deals with PC manufacturers to bundle versions of its applications with new PCs as an alternative to Microsoft applications.