I have recently made the decision to retire as the Suse CEO and subsequently to leave the company. I care very deeply for the Suse business and its employees, and this difficult decision is based entirely on personal reasons, which I am sure you will all understand and respect. My step down from the Suse CEO role will be effective 5 August.

While I appreciate this news may come as a surprise to many of you, I strongly believe that my decision comes at a positive point in time for Suse, where the business has completed its journey to becoming standalone and has a solid foundation to continue to accelerate its success and growth as an independent company.

For me personally, this means I will have more time to devote myself to other important things in my life. Above all, I will be spending more time with my family, and especially with my youngest son Oskar, who is a 10-year-old disabled child and who needs my love, support and presence.

In the 2018 financial year, the Suse business saw revenue growth of 15% and recently we surpassed the US$400-million mark for the first time. This level of expansion has only been realised through the whole Suse team showing huge commitment to working together to deliver great outcomes. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved collectively over the last eight years, and I have every confidence that Suse will exceed all future expectations. I will naturally be following your journey closely during my retirement, and my positive wishes will be with you at all times!

As we look to the future, I am very excited to announce that Melissa Di Donato has been appointed as the new Suse CEO.

However, I am delighted and, of course, reassured to be passing the Suse CEO baton to such a talented and accomplished leader. Melissa has an outstanding track record of growth, leadership and transformation in the tech sector, having enjoyed enormous success as the chief operating officer and chief revenue officer at SAP.

Outstanding results

Prior to SAP, she held senior executive positions at Salesforce.com and was recognised for her contribution to growing global organisations by winning the 2018 Digital Masters Award for Excellence in Commercial Management.

Melissa will be based in the UK, and while her official start date is 5 August, I am sure many of you will meet her over the coming weeks.

I would like to thank every one of you for the support you’ve shown me over the last eight years. Our culture and the way in which we collaborate and work together to achieve outstanding results has played a huge part in our success, and I am very grateful to you all. I look forward to seeing or speaking with as many of you as possible over the next few weeks.

Best Regards,
Nils Brauckmann, Suse CEO