Snowflake (SNOW) said CEO Frank Slootman, who took the company public in 2020, is retiring.
Snowflake announced on Wednesday the retirement of its CEO, Frank Slootman, who spearheaded the company’s journey into the public market in 2020. The news triggered a significant 24% drop in the company’s stock during extended trading.
Replacing Slootman is Sridhar Ramaswamy, the former Google advertising chief. Ramaswamy brings with him a wealth of experience from his tenure at Google, where he led the ads and commerce division until 2018. His appointment comes after Snowflake’s acquisition of Neeva, a consumer search engine co-founded by Ramaswamy, for $185 million in June.
Slootman, who will continue as chairman of the board, expressed confidence in Ramaswamy’s ability to navigate Snowflake’s future growth, particularly in areas such as AI and machine learning.
Despite the leadership transition, Snowflake reported robust fourth-quarter financial results, with sales increasing by 32% year over year to $774.7 million. However, the company’s projection of first-quarter product revenue between $745 million and $750 million fell short of analysts’ expectations of $759 million, contributing to a cautious outlook.
Slootman’s departure marks the end of an era for Snowflake, which experienced exponential growth under his leadership, culminating in a market cap of $75 billion before the after-hours downturn.
