VMware on Tuesday announced the abrupt departure of founder and CEO Diane Greene, replacing her with former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz.
Paul Maritz
Maritz, who spent 14 years at Microsoft, had been at former VMware parent EMC since February, when the storage giant bought Maritz's start-up, Pi.
Although VMware issued a statement praising Greene for her contributions, the company made it clear that the decision for Greene to leave was made by the board.
"VMware's Board of Directors announced today that it has made a change in the leadership of the company with the departure of Diane Greene as president and CEO," the company said.
The move comes as VMware faces stepped-up competition in the virtualisation field it has dominated, including from Maritz's former employer, Microsoft.
On Tuesday, the company warned that full-year revenue will be "modestly below the previous guidance of 50 percent growth over 2007." The company did not update its guidance for the just-ended quarter, saying it will report results as scheduled on 22 July.
VMware shares plummeted on the news, changing hands recently at $39.50, down $13.69 or more than 25 percent.
VMware's fortunes have shifted drastically since the company launched a wildly successful IPO last year. The company's stock rose from an initial price of US$29 per share to a high of US$55.50 in its first day of trading.
The company's revenue warning is the second recent financial hiccup for VMware, which also reported disappointing earnings in January.
EMC purchased VMware for approximately $635 million in 2003.
I always admired the way VMWare remaind storage agnostic even whilst owned by EMC.
Hope this policy remains rather than have some tired, old storage vendor push their wares down the throats of VMWare users.
Thanks for al lthe good work DG