First and foremost, to Dr. Herrod… Thank you. In my eyes, you were the “Steve Jobs” of VMware. You are a visionary that has led to a lot of the products we know and love today, and always gave the most compelling keynotes and reveals at various shows around the world. You inspire people to get excited about technology, and General Capital Catalyst (thanks to @wygtya for the correction) is a lucky firm to have you. You have been at VMware for almost the entirety of my IT career, and while I would argue the majority of VMware did not become “mainstream” until 2007, it’s amazing to know and love what you guys have accomplished in these few short years, and have absolutely transformed an entire industry, if not an entire age.
OK. Now for the controversial part. First Maritz, now Herrod. I cannot help but speculate that something strategic is going on here.
EMC has been a majority stakeholder in VMware for years now. “EMC did not purchase a majority stake. It bought the entire company. It then floated 20% on the market.” -@Storagezilla
UPDATE: @Storagezilla correcting my wording here. Verified and Updated. Thanks, Mark!
A very smart play by them in December of 2003. At the time it was a risky gamble, and a lot of us kinda wrote it off at the time. But let’s really examine the chain of events that have happened.
1998 – VMware founded by Diane Greene and Mendel Rosenblum
Dec 2003 – EMC purchases VMware for $635M deal
~2007 – VMware goes mainstream
Aug 2007 – IPO at $29
2008 (don’t remember exactly) – VMware stock surpasses $100, and a few of us early investors made out like bandits when we saw it get upwards of $120/share.
2012 – Paul Maritz steps down as CEO of VMware and goes to EMC. Pat Gelsinger steps down at EMC and takes CEO spot at VMware. Was met with a lot of ‘WTF’ in the industry.
2013 – Steve Herrod steps down as CTO of VMware and goes to a VC, of all places?
Something strategic is happening here, folks. Will be interesting to see how things shake out, as a lot of us in the industry have bet our careers on VMware.
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
-Nick
UPDATE: Some of the statements I originally made seem to be a conjecture that is causing a lot of controversy. I’ve pulled them in the interest of blogging with integrity.
Interesting if somewhat speculative post – on the share price and stuff. Let’s not forget that thing called the credit crunch I&II and fall of Lehman Brothers, which sent the market into freefall. The LOWEST VMW stock got in that horrible time was $18 a share. At that point folks with deep pockets and market knowledge bought – knowing they weren’t buying into suckers rally, and made a heap of cash. I left my cash in the bank, and paid of a chunk of change of mortgage rather than risk that money on the markets… So if we use that period as “high watermark” you will find most of the FTSE, NYSE, 100 were in the same boat…
Lets not remember that ALL the storage vendors (including NetApp) have done VERY well from the growth of virtualization. The rule used to be forever $1 of VMware, the customer buys $4 of storage. That’s why its been SO important to keep ALL the storage vendors on-side. VMware has (and I believe) will always have a robust and cordial relationship with EMC. But the folks over at EMC aren’t daft, they know keeping VMware open to all storage comers has more benefits – regardless of what previous CTO’s company affiliation.