Alan Guggenheim, the president and chief executive of OpenTV, has stepped down for what are described as ‘personal reasons’ after less than a year in the role. He will be replaced by Ben Bennett, previously responsible for customer operations. OpenTV offered no further comment on the departure of its chief executive in its announcement.
Alan Guggenheim joined OpenTV after John Malone’s Liberty Media group sold the San Francisco based interactive television technology company to the Swiss Kudelski Group in a deal worth $132 million. He was previously chief executive of NagraStar, a content security company jointly owned by Kudelski Gorup and EchoStar Communications.
“OpenTV is strongly positioned as the worldwide leader in middleware for television network operators, providing a customer-focused, solutions-based approach to the market,” said Andre Kudelski, the executive chairman of OpenTV. “Ben is a highly regarded and experienced OpenTV executive who has a clear view of the company’s potential as well as outstanding relationships both within OpenTV and externally with customers and partners around the world.”
Ben Bennett has been with OpenTV since March 2000, serving as managing director for their European operations and acting as general manager of their worldwide professional services, consulting and support group. He has been appointed to the new role of chief operating officer, acting as chief executive officer.
The company has also named Mauro Saladini as a new director of OpenTV. He currently serves as chief financial officer of the Kudelski Group.
OpenTV has seen its stock price halve in value over the last year. At the height of the technology boom in 2000 it was trading at over 200 dollars a share but in recent years it has been in the low dollar range.