Palo Alto Networks said Monday its founder and chief technology officer, Nir Zuk, is stepping down after more than two decades with the cybersecurity giant. Zuk will be succeeded by Lee Klarich, the company’s chief product officer, who will also join Palo Alto’s board of directors.
“I founded Palo Alto with a radical idea and a desire to challenge a complacent industry with a cybersecurity platform,” Zuk said in a statement. “With the most comprehensive product portfolio today, I have confidence in Nikesh’s leadership and am excited to pass the torch to Lee Klarich. He is an exceptional technologist who will carry this competitive fire into our next chapter.”
Palo Alto chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora called Zuk “a legend in cybersecurity” and said his contributions are “forever etched in our history.” He credited Klarich, who joined the company in 2006, with helping shape its products and vision.
Board member John Donovan said Zuk made “foundational contributions” to the company and called Klarich “the ideal successor to guide our technology strategy.”
Palo Alto, traded on Nasdaq, serves more than 70,000 organizations worldwide with AI-powered security solutions across networks, cloud and security operations. The company announced earlier this month it was acquiring Israeli cybersecurity firm CyberArk for $25 billion, the second-largest acquisition in Israeli high-tech history.
Zuk, 54, began his career at Check Point Software in 1994 after serving in Israel’s Unit 8200 military intelligence division. He helped develop Check Point’s first firewall before founding OneSecure in 2000, which he later sold to NetScreen for $45 million. He launched Palo Alto Networks in 2005 to compete with Check Point.
In addition to cybersecurity, Zuk co-founded Air Haifa, Israel’s fourth airline, and backed ventures including Ash Bank, a digital bank still seeking investors, and the news outlet “Relevant,” which shut down in 2024 after losses.