Linksys names Harry Dewhirst new CEO

Network hardware manufacturer Linksys has announced the appointment of Harry Dewhirst as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 4 June 2021. He was previously the company's head of product and business development, and was named interim CEO earlier this year.

Dewhirst's appointment is likely part of a strategy to make Linksys a standalone company again, or as described in the announcement, operating “as an independent organisation”. Linksys was initially a small enterprise, but it has been under the ownership of larger tech firms since 2003—first Cisco and now Belkin—and for the most part operated and was managed as a division of those businesses.

The new CEO, however, has an entrepreneurial track record, having co-founded advertising tech companies Amobee and RingRing Media as well as boutique venture capital fund Ballpark Ventures. He also served as President of location data analytics company Blis.

According to Dewhirst, Linksys is “taking a deeper dive into its roots as an innovative wireless technology” and will be tackling the remote working and learning market. He said: “I look forward to accelerating the growth of the company as it embarks on this exciting journey.”