Symantec 2015 Annual Report Download - page 7

Dear Fellow Shareholders:
Fiscal year 2015 was a transformative year for Symantec. As part of our commitment to deliver
long-term value to our shareholders, we chose a new CEO to run Symantec, began the process of
separating our information management business to focus on our long-term security strategy and
execution, and continued to return significant cash to shareholders.
Appointing the Right Leader for Symantec: Hiring the right CEO is one of the Board’s most visible
responsibilities. We conducted a rigorous six-month search process with the help of a leading executive
search firm. We formed a special committee that reviewed over a hundred qualified candidates, actively
vetted more than thirty, and collectively met with the finalists. Ultimately, the Board unanimously chose
Michael Brown to lead Symantec. As interim CEO, Michael brought focus and intensity to the
organization, improved Symantec’s operating and financial performance, and recruited additional talent
to our executive team. Most importantly, he showed vision and creativity as he worked with the Board
and the management team to develop a strategic plan to return Symantec to growth.
Separating Our Information Management Business: The separation of our information
management business marks the culmination of a detailed and comprehensive strategic review by the
management team and the Board, and complements Symantec’s five key operational priorities. Winning
in both security and information management requires distinct strategies and dedicated investments,
along with different core competencies and a focus on the unique needs of each customer base. As part
of our commitment to fulfilling our fiduciary duty to shareholders, we are confident this separation will
unlock significant shareholder value over time as it reduces complexity, enhances strategic flexibility, and
frees the security business to focus on its key growth markets.
Announcing Our Unified Security Strategy: In addition to our separation, we announced our
unified security strategy. This strategy harnesses our vast telemetry to deliver a unified security analytics
platform that enhances visibility of real-time global threats and powers analytics applications. It also
leverages this platform to provide best-in-class consumer and enterprise security software. Lastly, it
provides cybersecurity services that include a full-suite of offerings supported by over 500 cybersecurity
experts and nine global security response centers.
Reaffirming Our Commitment to Return Significant Cash to Shareholders: We remain committed
to returning significant cash to shareholders through stock repurchases and dividends. Over the past
decade, Symantec has returned more than $10 billion and paid out $913 million in fiscal year 2015. In
February 2015, we authorized an additional $1.0 billion stock repurchase program and increased this
amount by a further $1.5 billion in August 2015. In addition, we decided to maintain our $0.15 quarterly
dividend for fiscal year 2016, substantially increasing our dividend payout ratio post separation.
Going forward, we are confident we have the right team and strategy to continue to execute on
our multi-year transformation, improve our operating and financial performance, and drive growth by
bringing new security solutions to market. We are excited about Symantec’s growth opportunities and
look forward to the year ahead. Thank you for your continued support.
Daniel H. Schulman Frank E. Dangeard Geraldine B. Laybourne
David L. Mahoney Robert S. Miller Anita M. Sands
V. Paul Unruh Suzanne M. Vautrinot
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