Equinix CEO Steve Smith has resigned suddenly after “exercising poor judgment with respect to an employee matter,” the company said today. The Equinix board said it accepted Smith’s resignation “in the best interests of the company,” and appointed Executive Chairman Peter Van Camp as interim CEO, effective immediately.
Equinix provided no details on the circumstances that prompted Smith to offer his resignation, and said it would commence a formal process to appoint a new CEO.
Smith became CEO in 2007, coming to Equinix from HP, where he had served as president of HP’s professional services business. He led the company through a massive global expansion in which the company added data centers through new construction as well as a series of acquisitions, including deals for Switch & Data, Telecity Group and a portfolio of data centers from Verizon.
Equinix shares stood around $81 when Smith was hired, and closed today at $439.17. In after-hours trading following the announcement of Smith’s resignation, shares of Equinix were about 2.7 percent lower.
Van Camp has been with Equinix in key roles for more than 17 years, serving as CEO for seven years (2000 to 2007). Since 2007, he has served as executive chairman of the Equinix Board of Directors.
In 2002, Van Camp oversaw a complex transaction that integrated Equinix with Pihana Pacific and i-STT, stabilizing the young company during the dot-com meltdown and creating the nucleus of the modern “Platform Equinix.”
