Surprising leader in the list of CEOs with highest net worth

Frank SlotmanWho has just resigned as CEO Snowflake Inc.Not a name that immediately jumps out as one of the ceo Most prominent in the technology industry. However, slootman He has turned his time running three companies into a higher net worth than most tech leaders Tim Cook Satya Nadella of Apple Inc. or Microsoft Corp.

Excluding his CEO position at the software company, his net worth is estimated to be around $3.7 billion. He has overtaken Cook, who is worth about $2 billion, and Nadella.

It’s rare for a non-founder to amass that level of wealth in the tech industry – Slootman did it by leading snowflake And ServiceNow Inc. Through initial public offerings and led data storage firms data domain when it was acquired emc corporation In 2009.

Additionally, he developed an almost communal reputation in the software industry as a tough leader with a direct communication style. CEOs need to be “extremely confrontational,” he said in a podcast episode. no prior In 2023.

“Frank understands how difficult it is to build companies, and he has done so time and again,” he said. David McJennettCEO of HashiCorp Inc.Another software infrastructure company, in an interview in September. He said, “People like him are relatively inflexible in their views and are right many times, so people want to follow them.”

The news that he was stepping down from the CEO role and the gloomy sales outlook sent shares into a tailspin. snowflake They fell 18% on Thursday, which was their worst day. That drop alone reduced net worth slootman At around USD 500 million. The company declined to comment on his net worth.

“It is certainly worrying to see Slootman, who has a strong track record and is highly respected by investors, resigning after a five-year tenure,” he wrote. brad zelnickon the analyzer Deutsche Bank AGIn a note on Thursday.

Another analyst, Bernstein’s Mark Moerdler, wrote that he wondered whether the sudden change was due to the company’s recent disappointment in revenue growth. Slootman said in an interview Baron’s The idea that his departure was related to a poorly received development guide was an “absurd notion”.

Over the past four years, Slootman has sold shares at a price-weighted average of about $268, well above Thursday’s decline to $188. He joined Snowflake in 2019 and led the company through its largest-ever software IPO the following year. At one point, his stock awards were worth $108 million a month.

His statements have created controversy. In 2021, slootman He was criticized for saying that diversity goals in recruitment were secondary to meritocracy, although he later apologized, saying that he had not intended to imply that diversity and meritocracy were mutually exclusive.

He has donated to Republican and Libertarian politicians, including in Montana, where he spends most of his time, and snowflake Relocated its executive office in 2021.

Former Google executive Sridhar Ramaswami of Alphabet Inc. is seen as a technology leader to replace Slootman. He will receive about $100 million in stock awards over the next five years, according to the filing Wednesday, as well as an annual salary of $750,000. You will also get an annual incentive bonus of 100% of your salary.

Other non-founders who became billionaires by leading technology companies include Steve Ballmer, an early Microsoft salesman who later became CEO, and is now the sixth-richest person according to the Bloomberg Millionaires Index. Palo Alto Networks Inc. CEO Nikesh Arora recently became a billionaire as the company’s share price soared.

(c) 2024, Bloomberg