APC Loses CEO, Names New Sales VP
In a surprise announcement in mid-August, the company said its long-time president and CEO Rodger Dowdell was stepping down. Dowdell, who led the company for 21 years, has been replaced by APC's vice president Rob Johnson, who is now serving as interim CEO. APC's board of directors has formed a search committee to find a permanent replacement for Dowdell, company officials said.
Insiders have pointed to the company's recent poor performance and withering stock price as probable factors in Dowdell's "retirement."
APC second-quarter earnings, announced last month, fell some 40 percent from the previous year, marking the third straight quarter of losses. The company's stock is down more than 23 percent this year as well, and APC this summer was forced to lay off 250 employees at its Galway, Ireland, facility and 66 workers at its Rhode Island headquarters.
But if change is on the minds of the executive leadership at APC, it wasn't evident in the company's statement which said the vendor did not "envision any immediate major strategic changes at APC in terms of products offered or sales channels. We are extremely well positioned to address our markets from the data center to the living room."
"During his 21 years leading APC, Rodger's strategic vision and strong direction were instrumental in building APC into the world's leading uninterruptible power supply (UPS) company and now a leader in the [Network Critical Physical Infrastructure] market for data centers," said APC director Jim Gerson, in a statement released on behalf of the board. "His inspiration has enabled us to become the dynamic and innovative company APC is today. Rodger oversaw APC's remarkable growth from a small start up to an industry leader with over $2 billion in revenue and approximately 8,500 employees worldwide."
In the same statement, Dowdell, who will stay on the company's board as non-executive chairman, added, "I have had an amazing journey at APC, joining the company when there were just a handful of people and experiencing all its ups and downs over the years. I am excited about the next stage of my contributions to APC and am anxious to begin working with the board on APC's strategic vision for the next 20 years."
Just last week, APC named its Americas vice president Dave Johnson (no relation to interim CEO Rob) to the newly created role of vice president of worldwide sales, marketing and service. In this role, Johnson will lead regional and global teams responsible for sales, marketing and service delivery.
Dave Johnson has been with APC for more than 10 years, and in his previous post was responsible for $1 billion in revenue annually. In previous positions he served as general manager for APC Rack Systems, according to the company.