Rod Beckstrom To Leave ICANN After End of Term

CEO to step down at end of three year tenure.

ICANN President and CEO Rod Beckstrom will step down at the end of his three year term, the non-profit announced this afternoon.

He has been at the helm of the company since July 2009 and will finish his three year contract at the end of June 2012.

It’s been an interesting couple years since he joined the organization. Shortly after he started ICANN gained some independence from the U.S. government. But the relationship with the U.S. government has been sour as the group pushes forward with new top level domain names.

In an official press release, Beckstrom said:

“I can summarize my time here in four words: strong execution, great teambuilding,” he said. “We have built a world-class executive team, and elevated ICANN’s stature through strategic relationships with governments, businesses, top technology firms and international organizations.”

But Beckstrom’s tenture may be as controversial as the organization itself.

In June former ICANN staffer Kieren McCarthy wrote a post titled “Has ICANN already fired Rod Beckstrom?” that summarizes at least one view of Beckstrom.

Of course, ICANN is one of those punching bags that no one ever really likes. I didn’t hear a lot of positive talk about the previous CEO, either.

The announcement nearly a year in advance does seems a bit early, but it should give the group more time to recruit its next leader.