Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson Steps Down

Darktrace says CEO Poppy Gustafsson steps down

LONDON (Reuters) - British cyber-security firm Darktrace said its CEO Poppy Gustafsson would step down on Friday and be succeeded by its chief operating officer Jill Popelka ahead of the completion of its acquisition by U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Gustafsson co-founded Darktrace in 2013 and led the company through its listing in London eight years later. The company, which uses artificial intelligence to detect threats within its customers' networks, agreed a $5.3 billion takeover by Thoma Bravo in April. Darktrace was backed by Mike Lynch, the British entrepreneur who died last month when his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily. (Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sarah Young)

Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson steps down

LONDON (Reuters) -British cyber-security firm Darktrace said CEO Poppy Gustafsson would step down on Friday and be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Jill Popelka ahead of the completion of its acquisition by U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Gustafsson co-founded Darktrace in 2013 and led the company through its listing in London eight years later. The company, which uses artificial intelligence to detect threats within its customers' networks, agreed a $5.3 billion takeover by Thoma Bravo in April. Darktrace was backed by Mike Lynch, the British entrepreneur who died last month when his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily. Gustafsson said she was "immensely proud" of everything that she and her team had achieved. "Together we have revolutionised the marketplace for cyber security and brought our AI-powered technology to almost 10,000 customers around the world, keeping them safe from cyber disruption," she said in a statement. Popelka, who has previously held senior roles at Accenture, Snap Inc and SAP SuccessFactors, joined Darktrace's board in January before assuming her current role in June, the company said. Darktrace was backed by Invoke Capital, a venture capital fund set up by Lynch after his company Autonomy was bought by Hewlett-Packard in 2011. Lynch was a member of Darktrace's board until 2018, when he was charged with fraud in the United States in connection with the Autonomy deal. Lynch and his co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain, who had also previously worked at Darktrace, were cleared of all charges in June. Chamberlain died in a road accident in England last month, days before Lynch was killed. Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares owned around 7% of Darktrace when it agreed to be acquired by Thoma Bravo in April. The deal is awaiting one final regulatory approval, expected by Sept. 28, before it closes, Darktrace said. (Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Sarah Young and Shri Navaratnam)