Web regulator names Fadi Chehade as new CEO

Chehade, who is currently chief executive at US-based Vocado LLC -- a company providing cloud-based software for schools, will replace Rod Beckstrom who had earlier announced that he would step down on July 1.

"Fadi has an amazing track record of success and the obvious leadership qualities to help carry ICANN into the next stage of its evolution," ICANN board chairman Stephen Crocker said before a news conference in Prague.

The 50-year-old Chehade, who was born in Beirut but left the war-ravaged Lebanon in 1980, said he was "naturally humbled to... lead an organization that defines itself by an international multi-stakeholder model and one that is the very core of the security and stability of the Internet."

ICANN's chief operating officer Akram Atallah will be in charge of the California-based global online governance body and domain manager from July 1 until Chehade, who had also worked for IT giant IBM, takes over.