VeriSign CEO Sclavos resigns suddenly

VeriSign Inc., a leading Internet domain registry, announced that its CEO, Stratton Sclavos, has resigned. The company's board of directors has replaced him with William A. Roper Jr.

VeriSign did not disclose why Mr. Sclavos resigned.

The announcement comes after the company disclosed that an investigation into its stock option grant practices by a group of independent members of its board did not find intentional wrongdoing by any member of senior management, including Mr. Sclavos.

Mr. Roper, who has served as a director at VeriSign since November 2003, most recently served as executive vice president of technology services company Science Applications International Corporation. He also played a leadership role in Network Solutions from the time of its acquisition by SAIC in 1995 until its merger into VeriSign in 2000.

Network Solutions included the domain name registry business that is central to VeriSign's business.

VeriSign is among the leading domain registry companies.