Friday, March 30, 2007
SAP Stalwart Apotheker In Line To Be Next CEO - Software - Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness
SAP Stalwart Apotheker In Line To Be Next CEO - Software - Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness: "Plattner talked in glowing terms of Agassi during a conference call late on Wednesday to explain Agassi's decision to leave, and pointedly refused to endorse Apotheker as heir to the CEO position.
'As much as Leo is in an extraordinary and elevated position in SAP, I will not allow myself to be pushed by anybody outside or inside SAP to make public statements about successors,' he said when asked whether Apotheker would be the next CEO.
'Am I disappointed? Yes, I'm disappointed but this is looking backwards. I'm looking forward and I'm extremely excited how smooth this transition at SAP worked,' he said of Agassi's decision to quit.
The urbane Apotheker, who is fluent in five languages and lives in Paris rather than SAP's provincial German headquarters of Walldorf, may have the last laugh, though, and is not averse to a little one-upmanship over his younger erstwhile rival.
At an huge SAP event in Paris last year, Agassi addressed a crowd of SAP customers and experts in English, apologising for his lack of foreign languages. He was followed by a beaming Apotheker, who upstaged him by speaking in fluent French.
Agassi's lack of German reportedly did little for his popularity at SAP headquarters. Sources close to the company say he was also reluctant to share the CEO position with Apotheker."
'As much as Leo is in an extraordinary and elevated position in SAP, I will not allow myself to be pushed by anybody outside or inside SAP to make public statements about successors,' he said when asked whether Apotheker would be the next CEO.
'Am I disappointed? Yes, I'm disappointed but this is looking backwards. I'm looking forward and I'm extremely excited how smooth this transition at SAP worked,' he said of Agassi's decision to quit.
The urbane Apotheker, who is fluent in five languages and lives in Paris rather than SAP's provincial German headquarters of Walldorf, may have the last laugh, though, and is not averse to a little one-upmanship over his younger erstwhile rival.
At an huge SAP event in Paris last year, Agassi addressed a crowd of SAP customers and experts in English, apologising for his lack of foreign languages. He was followed by a beaming Apotheker, who upstaged him by speaking in fluent French.
Agassi's lack of German reportedly did little for his popularity at SAP headquarters. Sources close to the company say he was also reluctant to share the CEO position with Apotheker."
