Vonage (Nasdaq: VG), a global leader in cloud communications helping businesses accelerate their digital transformation, announced that the company’s Board of Directors has appointed Rory Read as CEO and a member of its Board of Directors, effective July 1. Read will succeed Alan Masarek, who will be stepping down as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors. Masarek will work closely with Read to assist in the transition.
Read brings to Vonage more than three decades of global technology industry experience. He joins Vonage from Dell Technologies, where he has most recently served as its chief operating executive and as CEO and president of Virtustream, a Dell Technologies business. He also has served as executive VP of Dell Technologies Boomi, a SaaS integration platform provider. Previously, as chief integration officer, he led the $67 billion merger/integration of Dell and EMC Corporation in the historic September 2016 transaction that created Dell Technologies, the world’s largest privately controlled technology company.
Jeffrey Citron, chairman of the Vonage Board of Directors, says, “Rory is a technology industry veteran with a unique background and strong understanding of SaaS and software. He is a proven leader and the ideal CEO to drive Vonage into its next era of growth. With the support of our experienced Board, I know Rory will be able to leverage his significant expertise to further transform the business and position the company to create substantial shareholder value. We look forward to embarking on this exciting new chapter together.”
“We would like to thank Alan for his dedication and contributions to Vonage over the last six years,” Citron continues. “Under Alan’s leadership, Vonage transformed from a consumer service provider to a leading business communications provider operating under a unified, flexible integrated platform. We are grateful for Alan’s vision and leadership in propelling the Company forward and laying the foundation for our future growth and success. We would especially like to thank Alan for his leadership in taking the necessary and prudent steps to ensure the well-being of our employees and to position Vonage to successfully navigate the COVID-19 crisis. We wish him all the best.”
Masarek adds, “It has been my absolute privilege to lead Vonage over the past several years, and I am incredibly proud of everything our team has accomplished together. Transformations of this magnitude are enormously challenging, and we achieved our objective of reinventing the company and becoming a global leader in business communications while building a truly talent-driven culture. I am honored to have worked with so many talented colleagues.”
“I look forward to working with Rory during this transitional period as we continue to see businesses accelerate their digital transformation, especially to address their business continuity and remote work needs, as well as the increasing need for the remote delivery of services,” Masarek continues. “The Board selected Rory after a thorough process. This is the right moment for transition, and Rory is the right leader to take us forward. I am confident the company is well positioned for continued growth and innovation under Rory’s leadership.”
“This is truly an exciting time to be joining Vonage,” says Read. “The need for businesses to accelerate their digital transformation through communications is expanding at an unprecedented pace. Vonage’s Communications Services Platform brings unique value through the integration of multiple communications channels—video, voice, messaging, chat and verification—into customers’ applications, products and workflows. This delivers both the power and the flexibility for our customers to create new emerging paradigms in their industries, and enables the type of business continuity, remote work, and remote delivery of services that is so critical in today’s environment. This is why customers across the planet increasingly choose Vonage.”
Read continues, “We all see a tremendous future ahead for Vonage. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Vonage and am committed to completing the ongoing strategic review of the Company’s consumer segment as we execute on our strategic vision of becoming a world-class Business SaaS company. I’m looking forward to working closely with the Board, leadership team and the more than 2,400 talented team members at Vonage as we create value for our shareholders, customers and partners.”
Before joining Dell, he served as CEO, president and member of the board of directors of AMD. During his tenure, he diversified the company’s portfolio to produce $2 billion in revenue from new businesses, initiated the next-generation Zen chip architecture and restructured AMD’s debt profile, returning the company to profitability. Previously, Read served as COO and president at Lenovo, where he was responsible for driving growth, execution, profitability and performance across a Global 500 enterprise encompassing more than 160 countries. Additionally, Read spent 23 years at IBM, serving in various leadership roles.
Read graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in information sciences from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York.
Vonage, (Nasdaq:VG) a global cloud communications leader, helps businesses accelerate their digital transformation. Vonage’s Communications Services Platform is fully programmable and allows for the integration of Video, Voice, Chat, Messaging and Verification into existing products, workflows and systems. Vonage’s fully programmable unified communications and contact center applications are built from the Vonage platform and enable companies to transform how they communicate and operate from the office or anywhere, providing enormous flexibility and ensuring business continuity. Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in New Jersey, with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Israel, Australia and Asia. To follow Vonage visit www.twitter.com/vonage, facebook.com/vonage or youtube.com/vonage.
