2nd Possible CEO Successor Quits Cisco

Charles Giancarlo, chief development officer and exec VP of Cisco, will leave the company after 14 years, in the networking giant's second major departure of 2007. Giancarlo, who was seen as a possible successor to CEO John Chambers, will become managing director of private equity firm Silver Lake in January, reports PC World.

A seven-person development council will take over Giancarlo's responsibilities, in line with the company's moves away from top-down management. Chambers feels  the company moves faster under such teams. Cisco's first 2007 departure was the February resignation of Michelangelo Volpi, who headed the company's routing and service provider businesses. Volpi had also been seen as a possible candidate to lead the company. (More Cisco stories.)