Cisco Expands Board to 14 Adding Benioff, Johnson

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) appointed Marc Benioff, co-founder and chief executive officer of Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM), and Kristina Johnson, CEO of Enduring Hydro LLC, to its board.

The appointments, which bring the total number of directors to 14, are effective Aug. 1, 2012, San Jose, California-based Cisco said today in a statement.

Cisco shares have tumbled 13 percent this year as CEO John Chambers works to reverse a slowdown in sales growth and stem market-share losses. The board expansion follows Cisco’s March agreement to buy NDS Group Ltd. for about $5 billion, adding software used in next-generation video services as it pushes into Internet-based cloud computing.

“Marc has changed the face of technology through his bold ideas around cloud computing and the social enterprise,” Chambers said in the statement. “Kristina brings us an unmatched expertise in science and technology, which will help guide Cisco as we continue to innovate and transform our customers’ experiences.”

In May, Chambers cited Europe’s debt crisis, weak government spending and a drop in orders from large corporate customers for a fourth-quarter profit forecast that was below analysts’ estimates.

The company is scheduled to report earnings on Aug. 15.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Rapaport in New York at lrapaport1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net