Adobe stock drops on surprise CEO transition

Adobe Inc ( NASDAQ:ADBE ) View Price & Profile Adobe stock drops on surprise CEO transition Published: 11:35 04 Sep 2026 EDT Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) shares were down 6.5% on Friday after the company announced a major leadership shake-up, naming Anil Chakravarthy as its next chief executive to succeed longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen. Chakravarthy, currently president of Adobe's digital experience business, will take over as CEO effective December 1, the start of Adobe's fiscal 2027. He has been at Adobe for roughly six and a half years and previously spent six and a half years at Informatica, including four and a half as CEO, followed by nine and a half years at Symantec. David Wadhwani, head of Adobe's creative business unit, which accounts for roughly three-quarters of the company's total revenue, is departing the company for other opportunities. The transition comes as Adobe faces mounting pressure from AI-driven headwinds, growing competition from tools like Canva and Figma ( Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) ), and pricing disruption across the creative software industry. Jefferies analysts said they had expected Wadhwani to be the "rational choice" for CEO given his oversight of three-quarters of Adobe's revenue and his standing inside and outside the company. With his exit, the firm said further departures and organizational changes are likely, and that board changes may also be needed to better position Adobe for AI. Chakravarthy's digital experience unit, focused on marketing automation software for enterprise and mid-market clients, represented about a quarter of Adobe's total revenue in fiscal 2025. The announcement lands just ahead of Adobe's fiscal third-quarter earnings report, scheduled for September 10. Continue reading