Digital Realty has named Andrew Power as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding long-time CEO William Stein. Power assumes the CEO role effective immediately, and will continue as President of Digital Realty, a post that was created last year.
Digital Realty said Stein "departed from his role" and has also resigned from the board of directors, but will remain with the company through year end. Stein was named CEO in 2014 after a lengthy tenure as CFO and chief investment officer. Stein, who is 68, led the company through a period of extraordinary growth, including the acquisitions of rivals Telx, DuPont Fabros Technology, Interxion and Teraco.
"I want to thank Bill for his exemplary leadership and congratulate him on the tremendous success that he has achieved for Digital Realty and its stakeholders," said Mary Hogan Preusse, Chair of Digital Realty's Board of Directors, in a press release. "We wish him all the best in the next phase."
As president and CFO, Power held a broad array of duties that included responsibility for global portfolio operations, technology development and innovation, service provider and enterprise customer solutions, asset management and information technology.
"I am honored to be named Digital Realty's CEO, and I want to thank Bill for all that he has contributed to Digital Realty and for nearly two decades of partnership," said Power. "As CEO, I look forward to meeting the needs of our growing customer base and supporting our dedicated employees as we deliver on our strategic priorities, strengthen our value proposition and improve the core growth of our portfolio."
Power has been a regular presence on the company's earnings calls with Wall Street analysts, as well as presentations to the investment community.
"Andy has a clear vision for the company's future and a strong track record of execution," said Preusse. "The board looks forward to working with him to build on our momentum as well as to help guide Digital Realty to support the ongoing digital transformation of our growing customer base and continue executing across our global platform of highly connected data centers.
"Andy has spent the last two decades developing a unique skillset and unparalleled professional relationships that will enable him to excel in his new role as CEO," she added. "As President and CFO, Andy has worked tirelessly to help broaden Digital Realty's presence and value proposition, enhance the company's financial flexibility and build the world's largest, data center platform. I am proud to be able to hand the reins to a capable leader and look forward to watching Andy lead the company in the years ahead."
Power, who is 42, will remain President of Digital Realty and will continue to serve as chief financial officer, with plans to announce a new CFO in early 2023.
According to an SEC filing, "the Board approved the termination of A. William Stein as Chief Executive Officer of the company without cause." As noted by The Tech Capital, Stein’s employment contract was updated in August 2021 to be automatically extended for successive 1-year terms until either party decided to terminate it.
Digital Realty's executive moves last year, in which Power and COO Erich Sanchack added new duties, had all the appearances of transition planning. Stein addressed the topic during the company's earnings call in February.
"This gives Andy an opportunity to spend time in operations as well as working with (CTO) Chris Sharp on the networking side, the product development side, the innovation side," said Stein. "We have a number of very capable executives that work for this company, and I think many of them are potential candidates to succeed me. My obligation to the board is to make sure that they have choices.
"But I have no plans to step down at any point in the near future," Stein added.
