Symantec chief tipped for Washington

John Thompson, the outgoing chief exec of Symantec, has been tipped to be Obama's commerce secretary, Reuters reports.

The US Secretary of Commerce heads up the Dept of Commerce, the US equivalent of the UK Dept for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform. The commerce secretary promotes domestic and foreign US business.

Thompson is due to leave Symantec at the beginning of April, which would make the timing just about right.

I like John Thompson. He once described himself to me as "Symantec's chief salesman," which shows he has a dry sense of humour.