CORRECTED - UPDATE 2-Symantec names new CEO; Thompson to retire

(Corrects fifth paragraph to say... for the fiscal year ending March 2009, instead of 2008) (Changes first paragraph; adds quotes from call; share price; new details throughout)

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - John Thompson, one of the technology industry's best-known executives, is retiring as Symantec Corp's (SYMC.O) chief executive after 10 years with the antivirus software company.

Thompson, 59, will step down as CEO at the end of Symantec's fiscal year next March. Enrique Salem, Symantec's current chief operating officer, will take on the CEO role on April 4, 2009.

"The past 10 years have been the highlight of my career," Thompson said on a conference call. "Working at Symantec has exceeded all my expectations."

Thompson, who joined Symantec in 1999 after 28 years with International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), is widely credited for transforming the small, consumer software company into a seller of information security, data backup programs and storage software to a wide range of customers.

Wall Street expects Symantec to earn $6.1 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2009, according to Reuters Estimates. The company had revenue of about $592.6 million for the year ended March 31, 1999.

Symantec, which sells critical security and computer infrastructure management software, lowered its fiscal third-quarter forecast last month by as much as six cents per share below analyst estimates, citing a "pause" in buying from corporate customers.

Thompson, a 1983 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, also gained prominence in Silicon Valley -- the strip of land in northern California that is home to some of the biggest tech companies -- as one of very few top African-American executives in tech.

He chaired the Silicon Valley Blue Ribbon Task Force on Aviation Security and Technology.

Thompson contributed to President-elect Barack Obama's campaign, according to campaign finance records. He held at least one fund raiser for Obama, according to media reports.

In 2002, he was appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee by President Bush, to recommend steps to improve security in the country's critical infrastructure.

"Ten years was about the right amount of time for any CEO to stay at the helm of a company," Thompson said.

He will remain as chairman of Symantec's board of directors, and help Salem transition into the CEO role.

Earlier, Thompson said in a statement he had been working on a succession plan with the Cupertino, California-based company's board for the past two years.

He endorsed Salem as "another progressive leader" on the call.

Salem, 43, became COO in January, and looked after Symantec's daily operations, its global product development, and sales and marketing.