Computer Associates Names CEO

The company taps a longtime IBM executive.

Author:: Bill Snyder
Publish date:: Nov 22, 2004 4:03 PM EST

After months without a permanent CEO, scandal-rocked

Computer Associates

(CA) - Get Report

is about to give the job to a veteran

IBM

(IBM) - Get Report

executive, according to published reports.

Both

Newsday

and the

Wall Street Journal

reported Monday that the Islandia, N.Y.-based software giant has tapped John Swainson, a 26-year Big Blue veteran who is currently general manger of software, for the corner office.

Neither CA nor IBM would comment on the reports.

Swainson succeeds Sanjay Kumar, who was demoted in April and left the company shortly afterwards in the midst of a long-running accounting scandal. Kumar and other former CA executives are currently facing

criminal charges.

Former Computer Associates executives have admitted that they backdated more than $2 billion in sales in 2000 and 2001 to inflate revenue for certain quarters. The company has restated financial reports for those years.

Swainson is taking the job from interim CEO Kenneth Cron, who had been a candidate for the permanent CEO slot. According to

Newsday

, Cron is expected to remain in the position until his contract with CA ends on March 31, 2005.

Shares of CA closed up 25 cents, or 0.8%, to $30.11.