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Jon von Tetzchner has stepped down as CEO of Opera, though he will remain with the company full-time in a "strategic and independent" capacity. Opera has appointed Lars Boilesen to take his place as CEO.

Jon von Tetzchner co-founded the company fifteen years ago. Boilesen has held executive positions at Alcatel-Lucent where he was CEO for the Nordics and the Baltics. He has also served at Opera Software where he was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, from 2000 to 2005. A year ago, he rejoined Opera as Chief Commercial Officer, and has served on the company’s Board of Directors as Vice Chairman.

"Lars Boilesen brings both a very significant industry experience and a deep understanding of Opera to the role as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. In short, Opera’s spirit runs through his veins," says Jon von Tetzchner. "My decision to assume a new role in Opera is based on a lengthy consideration process. As outgoing Chief Executive, I leave confident in the company’s continued leadership in key markets, our strong management team, our ongoing commitment to innovation, and our robust financial foundation."

"I was very happy about convincing Lars to come back to Opera one year ago. Today, I am very excited about asking him to take over as CEO as we continue our growth and global expansion. We have worked closely together for many years and I am certain that he is the right person to lead Opera into a very bright future," added von Tetzchner.

"I am impressed with what Opera has achieved under Jon’s leadership," says Boilesen. "We provide browser technology not only to nearly 100 million consumers worldwide, but also to the major players in the industry: Vodafone, T-Mobile, Nintendo, KDDI, SKT, Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony Ericsson to name but a few. Our focus going forward is to execute on our current strategy and continue to deliver the best browser experience to the breadth of our customer and user base."

Opera says Boilesen played a crucial role in transforming Opera from a desktop browser vendor into a leader in cross-platform browsing.

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