VMware Names New CEO After Losing Pat Gelsinger to Intel

VMware has chosen longtime company veteran and COO Rangarajan “Raghu” Raghuram to be its new CEO. The move comes in the aftermath of losing Pat Gelsinger to Intel.

Raghuram will become CEO on June 1. He joined VMware in October 2003 and is executive vice president and COO of products and cloud services.

Gelsinger left VMware to return to Intel in February as its CEO. He served as VMware’s CEO for more than eight years.

Zane Rowe, VMware’s chief financial officer, has been serving as interim CEO.

“VMware is uniquely poised to lead the multicloud computing era with an end-to-end software platform spanning clouds, the data center and the edge, helping to accelerate our customers’ digital transformations,” Raghuram said. “We have enormous opportunity. We have the right solutions, the right team, and we will continue to execute with focus, passion and agility.”

Driving VMware’s Strategic Direction

Since joining VMware, Raghuram has helped steer the company’s strategic direction and its technology evolution. He helped grow the core virtualization business and drove VMware’s software-defined data center strategy.

Moreover, he built and guided VMware’s cloud computing business and SaaS transformation efforts. He also played a pivotal role in the company’s M&A strategy.

VMware’s Raghu Raghuram

Raghuram has been key in driving partnerships with Dell Technologies, hyperscalers and other strategic partners.

Dell is spinning off its VMware ownership in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Michael Dell is chairman of VMware’s board of directors.

“Throughout his career, [Raghuram] has led with integrity and conviction, playing an instrumental role in the success of VMware,” he said. “Raghu is now in position to architect VMware’s future, helping customers and partners accelerate their digital businesses in this multicloud world.”

In addition, VMware named Sumit Dhawan as its new president. He’ll lead all go-to-market functions including worldwide sales, worldwide partner and commercial organization, customer experience and success (CXS), marketing and communications. He’s been serving as senior vice president and chief customer officer.

Meantime, chief operating officer Sanjay Poonen wrote on Twitter that he’s leaving the company after VMware passed him over for the top job.