The CEO of $25 billion VMware denies a report that he's stepping down amid a huge leadership brain drain
A string of departures
Gelsinger's remarks clear a lot of air around his job, which has long been rumored to be next in line to be canned, following a series of leadership departures at VMware. Just over the past few months, the company's COO, CTO, and CFO have all left, in addition to a bunch of VP-level star executives. With Dell soon expected to merge with EMC, which owns 81% of VMware, it seemed only reasonable that the company's entire management would get overhauled.
On top of that, as the CRN report noted, Gelsinger was noticeably absent from EMC's annual conference, EMC World, where he typically makes a big presentation. Dell made the speech instead, adding fuel to rumors of Gelsinger's exit.
Despite all the rumors and changes, VMware delivered a surprisingly strong quarter last month, causing its stock to jump 13% in after hours trading. Still, VMware shares are down nearly 35% over the past 12 months.