RingCentral CEO Steps Down After Three-Month Stint

After a short time at the helm, RingCentral’s CEO Tarek Robbiati has ‘mutually agreed’ to separate from the company, according to the UCaaS provider. He will be entitled to payments totaling $9.75 million, according to a regulatory filing.

Tarek Robbiati, unified communications-as-a-service provider RingCentral’s new CEO who joined the company in August, has left the company after about three months in the role.

Robbiati, formerly Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s chief financial officer, is being replaced by RingCentral’s founder and former CEO until 2023, Vlad Shmunis. The Belmont, Calif.- based company said that Robbiati “mutually agreed” to separate from the company and resign from the board of directors, effective December 8.

RingCentral in a statement said that Robbiati’s resignation is not a result of any disagreement with the company or the board, or any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies, or practices.

In a Dec. 11 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, RingCentral said that under the terms of this agreement, he will be entitled to payments totaling $9.75 million, “an amount materially consistent with the benefits that would be due to Mr. Robbiati under his offer letter and the company’s severance and change of control policy.”

The company directed CRN to the company’s statement published on Monday for comment.

“RingCentral’s strategic product vision and operations are closely linked, and we determined it is best to have one leader with oversight for all aspects of the organization,” said Rob Theis, lead independent director for RingCentral. “RingCentral’s founder and long-term CEO, [Shmunis] has overseen the Company’s growth from inception to a leading SaaS provider with over $2.2 billion in revenue. We are confident that he will be effective in his return as CEO and will continue delivering for all our stakeholders. We appreciate Robbiati’s contributions and wish him well.”

Robbiati, who played a pivotal role in HPE’s transition to an as-a-service model, joined RingCentral on August 28. He had been a member of the RingCentral board of directors since December 2022.

“I have the utmost respect for the RingCentral team. I wish the company and its people the very best. RingCentral has tremendous products and I believe the Company will continue to deliver for its customers and shareholders,” Robbiati said in a statement.

Founder and CEO once again, Shmunis will remain chairman of the board, RingCentral said.

“We are at a tremendous inflection point in our industry and it is critical that our product and innovation strategy drives all that we do and is closely aligned with how we go to market,” Shmunis said on taking back up the CEO mantle. “We have a world-class team, battle-proven technology, and a clear roadmap with a large and untapped market opportunity ahead of us. I am fully committed to RingCentral and am confident in our ability to drive sustainable, profitable growth moving forward that is rooted in our core values of trust, innovation, and partnerships.”

RingCentral last month posted third-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s expectations with revenue of $558 million, up 10 percent year over year and slightly ahead of both the company’s guidance range of $552 million to $556 million. Subscription revenue was also up 10 percent when compared to a year ago to $531 million.