Cisco's Morgridge Becomes Chairman Emeritus, Chambers Chairman

Cisco CEO John Chambers will take over as chairman, while longtime chairman John Morgridge will become chairman emeritus, the networking company said Thursday. Chambers will retain the CEO post.

Morgridge joined the firm 18 years ago, well after its founding in 1984 by two Stanford professors who viewed routers as a means of connecting the school's networks. He guided the company through its IPO in 1990, and set in motion Cisco's strategy of successful acquisitions.

Chambers took over as president and CEO of Cisco in January 1995 and oversaw annual revenue growth from $1.2 billion to nearly $25 billion in fiscal year 2005. During that time, the company noted that Cisco's market cap grew from about $10.4 billion to today's $121 billion value.

Joining Cisco in 1991 as senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and Operations, Chambers had previously spent eight years at Wang Laboratories.

Morgridge will work on Cisco's charitable and education efforts as chairman emeritus.