Former SAP chief exec Bill McDermott is stepping up as the new CEO of cloud software giant ServiceNow because the old one is taking over Nike

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Former SAP chief exec Bill McDermott is stepping up as the new CEO of cloud software giant ServiceNow because the old one is taking over Nike

Bill McDermott SAP

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  • Bill McDermott, who just stepped down as SAP's CEO, will be the next chief executive of ServiceNow.
  • He'll be replacing John Donahoe, who was named the next Nike CEO on Tuesday.
  • Donahoe has led ServiceNow since 2017, while McDermott had led SAP from 2010 until two weeks ago.

There's a little game of musical chairs going on in the enterprise software business.

ServiceNow said Tuesday that Bill McDermott, who has just stepped down as chief executive at software behemoth SAP, will be its next CEO, replacing outgoing CEO John Donahoe.

McDermott served as CEO of SAP from 2010 until two weeks ago when he announced that he was stepping down. He's been replaced by Jennifer Morgan, who had been president of SAP's cloud business, and Christian Klein, who served as the German tech giant's chief operating officer.

"I'm fired up and can't wait to get started!" he said in a statement.

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Donahoe, meanwhile, has just on Tuesday been named as the new CEO of Nike, the footwear and apparel maker. McDermott will take his new post in January 2020 when Donahoe departs for Nike. He will also remain on the ServiceNow board until June 2020.

ServiceNow shares tumbled 8% in late trades. The company, which offers cloud based enterprise applications, announced preliminary third-quarter results ahead of its report scheduled for Wednesday. ServiceNow said it expects revenue of $885.8 million which is in line with Wall Street's expectations.

Donahoe, the former CEO of eBay, was named ServiceNow chief in 2017, replacing Frank Slootman. In a statement, the company said he led strong customer growth and helped ServiceNOw post annual revenue growth of more than 30% each quarter. ServiceNow's market cap is now at $43 billion, roughly triple what it was when Donahoe joined.

"ServiceNow is a special company and leading the team has been an honor," Donahoe said in a statement.

Got a tip about ServiceNow, SAP or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @benpimentel. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

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