- Push-out Score determined
- After less than one year in the position
- Praise and thanks for Swad
- Matt Levin taking over
- Swad said 70 words
(exechange) — Charleston, South Carolina, May 4, 2021 — Steve Swad, chief executive of Benefitfocus, leaves. As announced by Benefitfocus Inc. in a news release on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, Stephen M. (Steve) Swad leaves his post as chief executive officer at the provider of cloud-based benefits management software after less than one year in the role, effective May 10, 2021.
Steve Swad’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Matthew C. (Matt) Levin, most recently Chief Strategy Officer at Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
The fact that Steve Swad’s successor is brought in from outside suggests that the board may seek to stimulate change with fresh ideas and new initiatives.
In general, an outsider does not have the constraints of an insider when it comes to leading painful changes or making unpopular decisions.
“Execute innovative growth strategies”
Benefitfocus did not give an explicit reason for Steve Swad’s departure from the CEO post, leaving room for speculation. Doug Dennerline, an independent director on the Benefitfocus board who will become chairman at the 2021 Annual Meeting, said: “Matt is a seasoned leader who has demonstrated his ability to execute innovative growth strategies.”
Precise information regarding Steve Swad’s future plans was not immediately available.
Benefitfocus said: “Levin succeeds Stephen Swad, who served as the company’s CFO and was appointed CEO in 2020.”
Share price increase since August 2020
The announcement follows an increase in Benefitfocus Inc.’s share price of 13% since August 2020. August 2020 is the month in which Swad’s tenure as CEO began.
In the position of CEO since 2020
Steve Swad became CEO of the Company in 2020.
In order to ensure a seamless handoff of leadership responsibilities, Swad will serve as an advisor to the CEO until September 2021.
Thereafter, Swad will continue to serve as a Benefitfocus board director.
Steve Swad has been the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors since August 2020.
He previously served as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer from July 2019 until his recent appointment.
He also had previously served on the Company’s board from December 2013 until July 2019.
From January 2016 until July 2019, Swad served as Chief Financial Officer of Vox Media, LLC.
From February 2012 until April 2015, Swad served as the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of Rosetta Stone Inc., a previously publicly held language-learning software company until its merger with Cambium Holding Corp. in 2020.
He was previously its Chief Financial Officer beginning in November 2010.
Prior to joining Rosetta Stone, Swad served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Comverse Technology, Inc., beginning in May 2009.
Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) (OTCQB: FNMA) from May 2007 until August 2008.
He has also held various senior financial management positions with then-public companies, including AOL Inc. (now a part of Oath Inc., which was renamed Verizon Media, which is a division of Verizon Communications) and Time Warner Inc. (now known as Warner Media, LLC) and its subsidiaries. Swad, a former partner of KPMG LLP, has also served as a Deputy Chief Accountant at the SEC.
He served on the board of Eloqua, Inc. from August of 2011 until February 2013, including between August 2012 and February 2013, during which time it was a publicly held company.
Swad holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Michigan.
At the time of Steve Swad’s appointment as chief executive officer at Benefitfocus, Lanham Napier, co-founder and CEO of BuildGroup had stated: “Given Benefitfocus’ leadership position and prospects in the industry, BuildGroup is thrilled to engage with the company in its next phase of development. With Steve’s collaborative leadership style, we are confident Benefitfocus is poised for continued growth and innovation.”
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Steve Swad’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Benefitfocus and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 19.2021 ($).