SPLUNK CEO DOUG MERRITT SOFTWARE

First, I’ve had more fun leading Splunk for the last seven years than anything else I’ve ever done. I want everyone to know a few really important things. All of this is effective today, as I’m delighted to announce that Doug Merritt, one of my favorite people on this planet, is taking my place as your new CEO/President! More on Doug in a minute, but first I should explain my decision. I will continue to serve Splunk as non-executive Chairman, which is a fancy way of saying that I’m not an employee (after Jan 31st) but still considered an insider by all the regulatory agencies. Today we are announcing that your favorite CEO (that would be me)) is retiring from Splunk. Re/code has obtained an internal memo written by Sullivan and shared with Splunk employees announcing the management change. Splunk shares rose 2 percent in after-hours trading.

Revenue was $174.4 million, ahead of the consensus view of $160 million.

It posted earnings per share of five cents on a non-GAAP basis, beating the estimates of analysts, who expected a one cent per-share profit. The news came on the same day that Splunk announced quarterly results. He moved to Splunk last year and sits on the board of Birst, a business intelligence startup. He then took a gig at Cisco Systems as a senior VP for product and solution marketing.

SPLUNK CEO DOUG MERRITT SOFTWARE

He then spent a year as CEO at Baynote, a mobile commerce software company. Merritt is a former executive VP at software giant SAP and spent six years there, ending in 2011, including a stint running its global on-demand solutions business. That began a two-year run that peaked in early 2014 when Splunk shares hit $92.75. Splunk’s IPO was one of the more successful tech offerings in recent memory, pricing at $17 a share and jumping 108 percent in its first day of trading. Sullivan led Splunk for seven years, landing there in 2008 after running Hyperion Solutions from 2001 until its $3 billion acquisition by Oracle in 2007. Sullivan will remain as non-executive chairman. Splunk named Doug Merritt, a senior VP, as the new CEO, effective immediately.

Godfrey Sullivan, the CEO of Splunk who in 2012 saw the software company through what turned out to be the first IPO of a company devoted to the idea of big data, is retiring, the company said today.

Splunk ceo doug merritt