Intuit's chief executive officer Bill Harris has resigned after only 13 months in the position. Bill Campbell, Intuit's chairman will take on Harris' role in addition to his own until a new CEO can be found, the US personal finance software vendor announced last week.
Harris, 43, will remain on the company's board of directors, according to a Intuit statement. He joined Intuit in 1993 when the company acquired tax preparation software vendor ChipSoft, where Harris was president and CEO.
He helped Intuit change its focus from being a vendor of PC software into a provider of finance services on the internet, officials said. Twenty per cent of company revenue during the last six months came from the internet, they said.
The change in strategy was overdue, Harris said in an interview last month with IDG publication, The Industry Standard. For much of its history, Intuit has dominated the personal finance market with its Quicken software, but the company was slow to move its business to the internet. Intuit found itself losing out as new types of companies entered the market for Net-based personal finance software and services, banks and online trading companies being among them, Harris said. Microsoft also gained market share at Intuit's expense with its Money personal finance software, and later with its Web-based MoneyCentral, he added.
Harris now wants to step back from day-to-day company management in order to focus on his entrepreneurial interests, according to officials.
Campbell will lead the search for a new CEO. He joined Intuit in 1994 as president and CEO. In August of last year he was named chairman of the board.