SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Marc Andreessen, the visionary who helped build the world's first commercial Internet browser, is stepping down as technology chief for America Online Inc., as he follows his entrepreneurial spirit.
After helping change the way the world communicates with Netscape Navigator, a program to easily navigate the World Wide Web, Andreessen said Friday he is seeking new challenges after a stint as AOL's first chief technology officer.The co-founder of Netscape Communications Inc. said in a telephone interview that he relinquished the technology officer post to devote more time to investing in promising startup technology firms.
Andreessen will remain a part-time adviser with AOL, however, his move is the latest exit of Netscape top executives since the Internet software company was taken over by AOL last year.
Also departing in recent months have been Netscape chief executive James Barksdale, its general counsel, and the general manager of Netcenter, its flagship Web site.
Netscape employees had expressed concern when the takeover was announced that the company's creative corporate culture would be harmed by the pairing, although AOL executives insisted things have not changed substantially and that morale remains high.
Andreessen, 28, was a graduate student at the University of Illinois in 1994 when he helped found Netscape with James Clark, a computer executive who had previously founded Silicon Graphics Inc., a maker of powerful PCs.
Andreessen helped turn some of his early work on an easy "point and click" method of navigating the Internet into the Netscape browser, which rapidly became the most popular way for surfing the Web.
Netscape grew to a $500 million company within three years, but was overtaken by Microsoft and, facing an uncertain future, was sold to AOL as part of a 3-way alliance with Sun Microsystems, makers of powerful network computers.
Andreessen was replaced at AOL by Sun Microsystem's William J. Raduchel, a seasoned executive who was responsible for Sun's corporate planning and development as well as for long-range strategy.
The new chief technology officer is expected to play a key role in coming months in determining whether AOL will get access to new high-speed Internet technologies now being pioneered by rivals such as AT&T Corp.
AOL chief executive Steve Case said Andreessen relinquished the position on good terms.
"Marc will focus on what he likes doing best -- nurturing the rapidly growing number of new companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere -- while remaining a strategic adviser to AOL on technology and investment issues," Case said in a statement.
Technology analyst David Smith of Gartner Group also said the Netscape departures were nothing unusual in the highly competitive job market in the Silicon Valley region. He suggested, however, that Andreessen may have been unhappy being relegated to a mostly behind-the-scenes position after gracing the cover of national magazines as an industry wunderkind.
"I think he was much more prominent at Netscape, and since he has taken the role (of technology officer) he's been not very visible," Smith said. "He was the technology visionary in a company not driven by technology visionaries but more by media content."
Andreessen acknowledged AOL is more focused on delivering information to the masses and worries about technology only in that context, but said: "I knew that when I was going in.
"I'm not a pure technologist anyway. I love working on things that reach large numbers of people," he said. "It's not just a matter of invention, but it's figuring out a way of bringing it to everybody. I find that incredibly interesting."
Andreessen may have been foreshadowing his departure from day-to-day decision-making at AOL this summer, with the sale of $88 million worth of his shares in AOL stock and his decision to take a stake in a closely held San Francisco startup. That company, Accompany Inc., is working to allow individual consumers seeking the same purchase over the Internet to act together as a group and receive volume discounts.
Raduchel comes to AOL, with its headquarters just outside Washington, at a crucial time for the online service, which is involved in a high-stakes public policy fight over its role in the next generation of high-speed Internet access.
"It's a rare person who can talk technology and policy in the same conversation," said Ken Wasch, executive director for the Software and Information Industry Association, of which Sun and AOL are board members. "Washington lobbyists are filled with people who can articulate policy positions but when it comes to technical issues will have to call their technical experts. Bill has demonstrated talents in both."
Raduchel's hiring also could further cement the important relationship between AOL and Sun, analysts said.