December 5, 1996 6:30 PM ET

Micrografx's Grayson to step down
By Maria Seminerio

Micrografx Inc. CEO and founder J. Paul Grayson will leave the company as of Jan. 1 to pursue other interests, the company announced today. While a CEO search goes on, Marketing Vice President Doug Richard will take over as interim president, and former CFO Joseph Kupke will serve as interim chairman. Grayson, who founded the graphics software company in 1982, said in an interview he has not yet accepted another job but is looking into new business opportunities. He predicted that 1997 will bring expanded opportunities for Micrografx in the business diagramming and three-dimensional software markets. "As more companies move over to [Windows] NT, the business market is going to come back strong in the next couple of years," Grayson said. Micrografx's FlowCharter 7.0 diagramming software, set for a January rollout, will be the company's "bread and butter" next year, he said. Also scheduled for early 1997 release is the Simply 3D 2.0 drag-and-drop development utility, which supports VRML 2.0 and animated GIFs and is aimed at a wider market than the company's previous 3-D development tools, Grayson said. While Grayson shops around for new employment, he plans to keep busy with his philanthropic endeavors -- the J. Paul Grayson Charitable Foundation and Micrografx's Chili For Children Foundation. A management committee, which includes Richard, Kupke and current CFO Larry Morris, will be responsible for day-to-day operations while the CEO search proceeds, officials said. Company officials also announced today that Robert Gutekunst has been promoted to vice president of development. Micrografx is based in Richardson, Texas. Copyright(c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week