After 10 years as the CEO of SAP SE, Bill McDermott has decided not to renew his contract and will be relinquishing his position.
McDermott will be replaced by SAP executive boards members Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein in a co-chief executive officer structure – as per the company’s long term succession plan – while McDermott will remain with the company in an advisory capacity until the end of the year.
“Every CEO dreams of being able to transition a company to its next generation from a position of significant strength,” said McDermott. “When you look at where we were and where we are, I simply could not be prouder of what this company has achieved over the past decade. I am thankful for the opportunity to lead one of the world’s finest companies. Now is the moment for everyone to begin an exciting new chapter, and I am confident that Jennifer and Christian will do an outstanding job. I look forward to supporting them as they finish 2019 and lay the foundation for 2020 and beyond. To every customer, partner, shareholder and colleague who invested their trust in SAP, I can only relay my heartfelt gratitude and enduring respect.”
McDermott joined the company in 2002 as the head of its North American division before taking over worldwide customer operations and joining the executive board in 2008 and soon after being appointed chief executive officer.
“SAP would not be what it is today without Bill McDermott,” said Professor Hasso Plattner, chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP SE. “Bill made invaluable contributions to this company and he was a main driver of SAP’s transition to the cloud, which will fuel our growth for many years to come. We thank him for everything he has done for SAP. We also congratulate Jennifer and Christian for this opportunity to build on the strong foundation we have for the future of SAP. Bill and I made the decision over a year ago to expand Jennifer and Christian’s roles as part of a long-term process to develop them as our next generation of leaders. We are confident in their vision and capabilities as we take SAP to its next phase of growth and innovation.”
Both Morgan and Klein have been with SAP for over 15 years (Morgan started with the company in 2004 while Klein started as a student 20 years ago) and both currently serve on the executive board.
Klein most recently served as the company’s chief operating officer and previously held positions such as SAP SuccessFactors chief financial officer and as SAP chief controlling officer.
Morgan most recently served as president of the Cloud Business Group, overseeing Qualtrics, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass, SAP Customer Experience and SAP Concur.