SAP back to sole CEO as Snabe moves to supervisory board
Bill McDermott has been left as the sole chief executive officer of German enterprise software solutions provider SAP, with the company's board putting forward his co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe for election as a member of the SAP Supervisory Board. The appointment will be decided by SAP shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in May 2014.
Both Snabe and McDermott were appointed as SAP's co-CEOs in February 2010, with Snabe promoted from his position of head of product development. Both were already members of the company's executive board.
"After more than 20 years with SAP, I have decided that it is time for me to begin the next phase of my career, closer to my family," Snabe said in a statement put out by the company.
"I would be honoured to continue my commitment to SAP in serving as a member of the Supervisory Board, building on the partnership and friendship with Bill McDermott and the entire Global Managing Board to further accelerate SAP's success."
Hasso Plattner, co-founder of SAP and chairman of the SAP Supervisory Board, said, "With two of the best leaders in the industry, now I can look to bring Jim's experience and energy to the SAP Supervisory Board, and be sure SAP is firmly in the hands of a visionary leader with Bill as sole CEO."
"As co-CEOs, we have a proven track record of making bold decisions that set SAP and our customers up for value and growth," remaining CEO McDermott said today.
"The proposed setup, with Jim joining the Supervisory Board, builds on the strength of our partnership and personal friendship, and will make SAP an even stronger company as we accelerate the transformation of the industry."
At the company's Sapphire Now conference in May this year, McDermott claimed that more people own mobile phones than toothbrushes.
The company has seen large growth in its cloud subscription service. In its first-quarter results, it reported a 373 percent year-on-year increase in cloud subscriptions and support revenue, bringing in €137 million compared with 2012's €29 million.