John McAdam (businessman)

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John McAdam
BornFebruary 1951 [1]
Wishaw, Scotland [2]
Education University of Glasgow (BSc) [2]
OccupationBusiness executive
Known forCEO of F5 Networks (2000–2015; 2015–2017) [3] [4]


John McAdam (born February 1951) is a technology executive who served as president and chief executive officer of F5 Networks from 2000 to 2015 and again from 2015 to 2017. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

McAdam was born in Wishaw, Scotland. He holds a B.Sc. in computer science from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. [5] [2]

Career

Before joining F5, McAdam was president and chief operating officer of Sequent Computer Systems (1995–1999) and later served as general manager of IBM's web server sales business (1999–2000). [6]

F5 Networks

McAdam joined F5 in July 2000 and led the company through a period of expansion, including its growth into a multibillion-dollar annual-revenue business while he was CEO. [4] [7]

In October 2014, the company announced that McAdam planned to retire as CEO at the end of fiscal year 2015, with the board indicating he would remain involved as non-executive chair. [7] [8] [9]

McAdam was re-appointed to the position on December 14, 2015, following the resignation of Manuel Rivelo. [5] [10] [11] In January 2017 F5 announced François Locoh-Donou would replace McAdam in April. [12] [13]

McAdam continued as a director after stepping down as CEO in 2017, [3] and later did not stand for re-election to the board at F5's fiscal-year 2019 annual meeting (held March 12, 2020). [14]

Board and advisory roles

McAdam has held board and advisory roles with technology companies and investors. In 2015, Madrona Venture Group named him a strategic director. [15] He also served on the board of Nutanix beginning in 2015, [16] and retired from that board at the company's annual meeting on December 13, 2019. [17]

In 2019, he joined the board of directors of ExtraHop, a Seattle-based security company. [18] [19]

In October 2020, Brytlyt announced McAdam as chairman of its board. [20] UK corporate filings list him as a director of Brytlyt Limited from October 2020 until March 2024, and also record other directorships, including roles at Quantexa (2019–2022) and Quality Clouds (appointed 2022). [21]

References

  1. ↑ "BRYTLYT LIMITED – People (officers)". Companies House (GOV.UK). Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "John McAdam: Technology leader and entrepreneur". University of Glasgow. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 "F5 Networks, Inc. Current Report on Form 8-K (Appointment of François Locoh-Donou; retirement of John McAdam)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "F5 Networks, Inc. Exhibit 99.1 (John McAdam appointed President and CEO)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  5. 1 2 "F5 Networks Announces Appointment of Long-Time F5 Executive John McAdam as President and CEO" (Press release). F5. December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ "F5 Networks, Inc. Form 10-K (business and executive officers)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 29 November 2001. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  7. 1 2 Vaughan, Eileen (29 October 2014). "F5 Networks CEO McAdam to retire at end of fiscal 2015". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  8. ↑ "Manuel Rivelo Appointed as the New CEO of F5 Networks" (Press release). F5 Networks. April 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ "F5 Announces President and CEO John McAdam's Plans to Retire at the End of Fiscal Year 2015". F5. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  10. ↑ Lerman, Rachel (December 14, 2015). "F5 CEO resigns after less than year on job; McAdam back in top post". The Seattle Times . Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  11. ↑ Demitt, Jacob (December 14, 2015). "F5 Networks CEO Manny Rivelo resigns over 'personal conduct matters' after less than 5 months". GeekWire . Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  12. ↑ "F5 names new CEO after yearlong search". The Seattle Times. January 30, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  13. ↑ Richman, Dan (30 January 2017). "F5 Networks names new CEO; McAdam set to retire again". GeekWire. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "F5 Networks, Inc. Proxy Statement (DEF 14A) for fiscal year 2019 annual meeting". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  15. ↑ "Madrona Adds John McAdam, Sujal Patel and Steve Singh as Strategic Directors". PR Newswire. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Nutanix, Inc. Proxy Statement (DEF 14A)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "Nutanix, Inc. Proxy Statement (DEF 14A)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  18. ↑ Thorne, James (4 March 2019). "Tech Moves: Leafly hires Amazon Prime Video vet as CEO; Former F5 CEO joins ExtraHop Board". GeekWire. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  19. ↑ "ExtraHop Kicks off 2020 on the Heels of Second Consecutive Year of over 40 Percent Growth". Business Wire. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "Brytlyt Welcomes John McAdam as Chairman of the Board". PR Newswire. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  21. ↑ "John McAdam – Personal appointments". Companies House (GOV.UK). Retrieved 14 December 2025.

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