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SAP drops Jennifer Morgan as co-CEO

Samuel Mungadze
By Samuel Mungadze, Africa editor
Johannesburg, 21 Apr 2020

German enterprise software company SAP has dropped its co-CEO Jennifer Morgan effective end of April, saying the current environment requires “a very clear leadership structure”.

The company announced today that her departure was “mutually agreed” by the board, and Christian Klein will become the sole CEO.

Morgan joined SAP in 2004 and was appointed co-chief executive officer, together with Klein, in October 2019.

SAP says more than ever, the current environment requires companies to take swift, determined action which is best supported by a very clear leadership structure.

“Therefore, the decision to transfer from co-CEO to sole CEO model was taken earlier than planned to ensure strong, unambiguous steering in times of an unprecedented crisis.”

Morgan has served as president of the Cloud Business Group, overseeing Qualtrics, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass, SAP Customer Experience and SAP Concur, and as an executive board member since 2017.

“I am grateful to Jennifer for her leadership of SAP, including all she has done for the company, our people and our customers,” says Professor Hasso Plattner, chairman of the supervisory board of SAP.

“This transition comes at a time of great uncertainty in the world, but I have full faith in Christian’s vision and capabilities in leading SAP forward toward continued profitable growth, innovation and customer success.”

“I’d like to thank Jennifer for her partnership over many years,” says Klein.

“Throughout SAP’s transformation, Jennifer has always been laser-focused on customers, partners, shareholders and employees. It’s thanks to her that we have established a strong position in experience management solutions. I know she will always be a champion of SAP.”

“It has been a great privilege to drive SAP’s growth and innovation in so many areas and most recently as co-CEO,” says Morgan.

“With unprecedented change within the world, it has become clear that now is the right time for the company to transition to a single CEO leading the business. I would like to thank Hasso Plattner for the opportunity to co-lead this great company, and I wish Christian, the executive board, and SAP’s talented team much success as they drive the company forward.”

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