Tableau shares have jumped nearly 7% in after hour trading on Monday, following the news that it replaced its founding CEO Christian Chabot with former AWS VP of Marketing Adam Selipsky.
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Chabot will remain chairman of the company’s board of directors.
Selipsky has spent more than a decade at AWS. He was a direct report to the CEO and one of two senior executives in place from the launch of AWS until the time of his departure.
Selipsky now serves as vice president for marketing, sales and support at AWS, a company he has worked at for over decade, and has also spent time at RealNetworks, the video and media firm. Prior to joining Amazon, he was an executive at RealNetworks, leading the video subscription and media player division. Selipsky holds an A.B.in government and an MBA from Harvard University.
Selipsky: “Tableau has that rare combination of a passionate customer base, leading products, amazingly talented people, dedication to technology innovation, and momentum in the market”. Andrew Beers, who is now vice president of product development, will become chief development officer. According to John McAdam, chair of the nominating and governance committee of Tableau’s board of directors, bringing Selipsky aboard will lead Tableau into the next stage of growth.
Meanwhile, Chabot, who has led Tableau for 14 years, said that he believes Selipsky is the ideal person to take the company to the next level given his experience at a firm with the clout of AWS.
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The change is intriguing, particularly given Tableau’s recent financial troubles, said Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT. “With the company’s scale and success to date, we have the opportunity to broaden our leadership team as we continue to delight customers and to build the company”. “In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if some major shareholders demanded that Tableau make a bold move, reduce the roles of the company’s founders, or begin shopping itself to potential buyers”. “Overall, it looks like a very smart move on Tableau’s part”.
