- After about six years in the position
- Praise and thanks for Sud
- Adam Gross taking over temporarily
- Search for a successor
- Sud kept it short and said 41 words
(exechange) — New York, July 5, 2023 — This news came shortly after Independence Day. Anjali Sud, chief executive of Vimeo, leaves her position. As announced by Vimeo Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, Anjali Sud leaves her post as chief executive officer at the business video software company, after about six years in the role, effective August 31, 2023.
Vimeo will undertake a search for a successor.
Anjali Sud’s duties as CEO will be taken over temporarily by Adam Gross, a former executive at Salesforce.com, as Interim Chief Executive Officer.
Already a director
Gross has already been a member of the board of directors of Vimeo. Directors-turned-executives represent a blend of outsider and insider.
They don’t have the constraints of a pure insider when it comes to leading painful changes or making unpopular decisions, and they have more company knowledge than a pure outsider.
Having been a director, Gross understands the expectations and dynamics of the board and has knowledge of Vimeo’s organization, risk-management practices and strategy.
“To pursue a new opportunity”
The management change is explained as follows. Vimeo stated: “Chief Executive Officer Anjali Sud will be departing to pursue a new opportunity.”
Precise information regarding Anjali Sud’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Departing/step down”
Vimeo said: “Chief Executive Officer Anjali Sud will be departing.”
Vimeo further said: “On June 30, 2023, Anjali Sud, Chief Executive Officer and director of Vimeo, Inc. (the “Company”) notified the Company of her intention to step down from her roles, effective as of August 31, 2023, to pursue another opportunity.”
Share price decline since July 2021
The announcement follows a decline in Vimeo Inc.’s share price of 92% since July 2021.
In the position of CEO since 2017
Anjali Sud became CEO of the Company in 2017.
Anjali Sud has served as a member of the Company’s Board since May 2021.
Sud has served as Chief Executive Officer of Vimeo since July 2017.
Prior to that time, Sud previously served as Vimeo’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Creator Platform from September 2016 to June 2017, Vice President and Head of Global Marketing from July 2015 to August 2016, and Director of Marketing from July 2014 to June 2015.
Prior to joining Vimeo in July 2014, Sud held various management positions at Amazon and was a member of the mergers and acquisitions team at Time Warner, a media and entertainment company.
Sud has served on the board of directors of Dolby Laboratories (a creator of audio and imaging technologies that transform entertainment and communications at the cinema, at home, at work and on mobile devices) since May 2019.
In her not-for-profit affiliations, Sud has served on the board of directors of Change.org, a nonprofit-owned tech platform for people-powered, social change, since October 2022, and serves as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum.
Sud holds a B.Sc. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
41 words by Anjali Sud
In the news release announcing her departure as CEO of Vimeo Inc., Anjali Sud received praise and thanks.
In announcing her departure, Anjali Sud kept it short and said 41 words.
“I am excited for Adam”
Anjali Sud stated: “I believe deeply in the company’s strategy, team, and future success, and will continue to be an enthusiastic supporter for every moment of what comes next. I am excited for Adam and for Vimeo to benefit from his experience and leadership.”
39% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 315 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (July 5, 2022, to July 4, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 6.1, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, time with family or pursuit of other opportunities were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 39% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, three in eight departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Closer look at female CEOs
Female CEOs in the U.S. have been found to be more likely to be pushed out than male CEOs. Over the past 12 months, outgoing female CEOs have received an average Push-out Score of 6.5, slightly above the average Push-out Score of 6.1 for outgoing male CEOs.
Female CEOs have a 42% shorter tenure. Women in the role step down after an average tenure of 4.7 years, compared with 8.1 years for men, the exechange data shows, which covers 23 departing female CEOs and 292 departing male CEOs.
On a five-year view, departing female CEOs received an average Push-out Score of 5.8, which was significantly higher than the average Push-out Score of 5.3 for departing male CEOs. This suggests that women were more likely to be pushed out than men, even when using a longer observation period. This is evident from exechange data covering 1,403 CEO departures (84 of them women and 1,319 men) from 2017 to 2021. Female CEOs who announced their departure from 2017 to 2021 had a 26% shorter tenure, exiting after an average of 6.6 years, compared with 8.9 years for men, the exechange data shows.
Push-out Score for Anjali Sud’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Anjali Sud’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to Vimeo and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 28.2023 ($).
