Snowflake’s Slootman says he’s not worried about employee exodus: ‘This is not a personal cult’

News
of


Snowflake
CEO
Frank
Slootman’s

retirement
sparked
an
18%
plunge
in
the
company’s
stock
price
on
Thursday,
its
steepest
selloff
since
the
data
analytics
software
vendor
debuted
on
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
in
2020.

Slootman’s
departure
was
announced
late
Wednesday
as
part
of
Snowflake’s
quarterly
earnings
report,
which
included
disappointing
guidance.
Analysts
at
Mizuho
Securities
wrote
in
a
note
that
the
stock
is
getting
hammered
“as
investors
digest
the
resignation”
of
Slootman,
who
joined
in
2019
and
led
the
company
through
its

blockbuster
IPO
the
following
year.

While
the
announcement
caused
consternation
on
Wall
Street,
Slootman
told
CNBC
that
he’s
not
worried
about
a
wave
of
Snowflake
employees
following
him
out
the
door.

“This
is
not
a
personal
cult,
OK?”
Slootman
said.

Slootman,
65,
is
being
succeeded
by
former Google ad
chief
Sridhar
Ramaswamy,
who
joined
Snowflake
in
June
via
the
company’s
$185
million

purchase
of
Neeva,
a
startup
Ramaswamy
co-founded
in
2019.

Snowflake
was
the
third
enterprise
technology
company
that
Slootman

shepherded
through
the
IPO
process,
following
Data
Domain
in
2007
and


ServiceNow
in
2012.
Snowflake
marked
his
biggest
financial
windfall.
He
controlled
roughly
6%
of
the
company’s
stock
at
the
time
of
the
IPO,
and
owned
10.6
million
shares
as
of
Feb.
9,
a
stake
that’s
currently
worth
about
$2
billion.

Additionally,
Slootman’s
total
compensation
in
2023
amounted
to
$23.7
million,
almost
entirely
from
stock
and
option
awards.

Before
joining
Snowflake,
Slootman
spent
about
six
years
as
CEO
of


ServiceNow.
He
told
CNBC
that
ServiceNow
has
continued
to
flourish
since
his
departure.
Annualized
revenue
has
grown
from
$1.5
billion
to
almost
$10
billion.

“Some
people
are
still
there
that
I
hired
—
quite
a
few
of
them,
actually,”
Slootman
said.
“There’s
also
new
ones,
obviously.”

ServiceNow’s
workforce
stood
at
23,668
by
the
end
of
2023,
compared
with
603
in
December
2011,
months
after
Slootman
had
joined,
according
to
regulatory
filings.

“We
put
ServiceNow
on
the
rails.
We’ve
done
that
with
Snowflake
as
well,”
said
Slootman,
who’s
sticking
around
as
chairman.

Taking
three
companies
through
big
and
successful
exits
is
a
rare
feat
in
technology,
and
has
gained
Slootman
plenty
of
acclaim.
But
he’s
also
attracted
attention
for
stepping
into
controversy
on
issues
like
the
tech
industry’s
focus
on
diversity.
In
2021,
as
corporate
America
was
wading
through
the
fallout
of
the
George
Floyd
murder,
Slootman
noted
that
diversity
shouldn’t
trump
merit.
He
later

apologized.

In
his
2022
book
“Amp
It
Up,”
Slootman
offered
advice
leaders
on
how
to
raise
standards
inside
companies,
citing
Steve
Jobs’
insistence
on
greatness
at


Apple.
“Don’t
let
malaise
set
in,”
he
wrote.

Founded
in
2012,
Snowflake
built
a
cloud-based
data
warehouse
for
storing
and
analyzing
corporate
information.
Now
the
company
wants
to
help
clients
build
artificial
intelligence
models
and
applications
on
top
of
the
data.

Ramaswamy
said
Snowflake
has
a
clear
vision,
with
the
data
cloud
at
the
center
and
apps
around
it.

“Just
delivering
on
that
at
scale
with
speed
is
what
I’m
going
to
do,”
he
said.

The
challenge
will
be
to
maintain
the
company’s
momentum.

Snowflake
generates
about
$3
billion
in
annualized
revenue,
growing
at
about
32%
a
year,
compared
with
under
$200
million
before
Slootman
replaced
former


Microsoft
executive
Bob
Muglia
as
CEO
in
2019.
As
it
tries
to
continue
its
rapid
expansion,
Snowflake
faces
competition
from
Databricks,
valued
at

$43
billion
last
year
in
an
investment
round
that
included


Capital
One,
which
previously
backed
Snowflake.

After
Snowflake
bought
Neeva,
Slootman
said
he
made
an
effort
to
get
to
know
Ramaswamy.
The
company
put
Ramaswamy
in
the
most
critical
role
at
the
time,
leading
its
AI
efforts.
Slootman
had
a
realization.

“Holy
s—,
this
is
the
opportunity
we’ve
been
waiting
for,”
he
said.

Ramaswamy
said
he’s
been
spending
a
lot
of
time
with
Slootman.
They’ve
traveled
together
to
London
and
Berlin,
along
with
domestic
trips
to
Arizona
and
Las
Vegas.
Ramaswamy
said
he’s
held
conversations
with
over
100
clients,
including
many
with
Slootman.

Now
that
he’s
at
the
helm,
Ramaswamy
has
to
deal
with
the
naysayers.

“It
is
no
doubt
concerning
to
see
Mr.
Slootman,
who
has
a
strong
track
record
and
is
well
regarded
by
investors,
step
down
after
five
years
in
the
role,”
Deutsche
Bank
analysts
wrote
in
a
note
on
Thursday,
though
they
maintained
their
buy
recommendation
on
the
stock.

But
nobody
has
more
at
stake
in
Ramaswamy’s
success
than
Slootman,
who
remains
one
of
the
company’s
biggest
investors.

“Snowflake
is
in
an
extremely
good
place,
having
Sridhar
at
the
helm,”
he
said.

WATCH:

Part
of
Snowflake’s
downfall
is
related
to
CEO
Slootman’s
retirement