- Push-out Score determined
- After about five years in the position
- Praise and thanks for Kasriel
- Hayden Brown taking over
- Kasriel spoke at length and said 158 words
(exechange) — Santa Clara, California, December 9, 2019 — Stephane Kasriel, chief executive of Upwork, leaves. As announced by Upwork Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Monday, December 9, 2019, Stephane Kasriel leaves his post as Chief Executive Officer at the online staffing firm after about five years in the role, effective December 31, 2019.
Among the 3,000 largest publicly held companies incorporated in the U.S. based on market capitalization, the average tenure of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 7.5 years, according to data compiled by exechange.
Stephane Kasriel’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Hayden Brown, currently Chief Marketing & Product Officer of Upwork Inc.
“Personal reasons”
Stephane Kasriel’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. Upwork said: “Mr. Kasriel’s decision to resign as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer and not to stand for re-election to the Board is based on personal reasons and was not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices.”
Precise information regarding Stephane Kasriel’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Step down/resign”
Upwork said: “Stephane Kasriel, President & Chief Executive Officer, has informed the Board of his decision to step down at year end 2019.”
Upwork further said: “On December 3, 2019, Stephane Kasriel notified Upwork Inc. (the “Company”) of his decision to resign from his position as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. The resignation will be effective on December 31, 2019.”
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in Upwork Inc.’s share price of 50% since March 2019.
Chaired by Thomas Layton
Upwork Inc. is chaired by Thomas Layton.
Thomas Layton has served as a member of the Company’s board of directors and Chairman since the Company’s inception in March 2014.
In the position of CEO since 2015
Stephane Kasriel became CEO of the Company in 2015.
Kasriel will remain involved with Upwork as an advisor to the company, and will continue to serve on the Board of Directors through the company’s 2020 annual meeting of stockholders.
Stephane Kasriel has served as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company’s board of directors since April 2015.
Prior to that, Kasriel served as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Product and Engineering since the Company’s inception in March 2014, as Vice President of Engineering and Product of oDesk from October 2013 to March 2014, and as Vice President of Product of oDesk from June 2012 to October 2013.
Kasriel has also served as Co-Chair of the Global Future Council on Education, Gender, and Work for the World Economic Forum from September 2016 to August 2018, and currently serves as co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the New Social Contract.
Previously, Kasriel served in various leadership roles for eBay Inc., an ecommerce corporation, including as the Global Head of Consumer Products from 2008 to 2010, Country Manager of PayPal France from 2006 to 2008, and Global Head of Mobile Business Development from 2011 to 2012.
In addition, Kasriel was the Chief Operating Officer of Work4 Labs, Inc., a talent acquisition platform, in 2012 and Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development of Zong, Inc., a mobile payment service, which was acquired by eBay, from 2010 to 2011. Kasriel was also the founder of Fireclick, Inc., a web analytics company, and a co-founder of iFeelGoods, a digital rewards platform company.
Kasriel holds a Diplôme d’Ingénieur from Ecole Polytechnique, an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from INSEAD.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Upwork and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 50.2019 ($).