According to a memo recently obtained by Bloomberg News, former CEO Leo Apotheker said that his departure from the company was necessary for SAP to excel.
Bloomberg News quoted Apotheker as saying,
in the memo, that "I regret that I wasn’t able to earn the support of each and every one of you, but I serenely stand before you today with the knowledge – and the clear conviction – that what I did was for the best of the company."
Apotheker’s exit was followed closely by two more members of SAP’s executive board, including COO Erwin Gunst and SAP Business Objects division head John Schwarz. Schwarz had previously been thought of as a possible successor to Apotheker in the role of CEO.
Instead, that title went to co-CEOs Jim Hagemann Snabe and Bill McDermott, but the real power behind the thrones is reputed to be Chairman Hasso Plattner, who officially serves the new co-CEOs as an advisor. The high rate of executive turnover was said to be due to SAP’s subpar performance and loss of market share to rival Oracle.
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