Go Daddy CEO Steps Down

The chief executive officer of Go Daddy, Warren Adelman has decided to step down from his position and assume a new role at the company as special advisor for strategy and global policy. Scott Wagner has been named interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a permanent successor. Wagner joins Go Daddy from KKR‘s portfolio operations team, KKR Capstone, which he joined in 2000. Go Daddy is a provider of web hosting, domain name registrations and new SSL Certificates.

PRESS RELEASE

Go Daddy, the world’s largest provider of Web hosting, domain name registrations and new SSL Certificates, today announced Chief Executive Officer Warren Adelman has decided to step down from his position as CEO and assume a new role at the company as Special Advisor for Strategy and Global Policy.

“I am proud to have been part of a team that has built a terrific business. I’ve spent close to a decade with Go Daddy, and it has been an amazing and rewarding time in my life. As much as I have enjoyed my roles as CEO and formerly as President and Chief Operating Officer, I have reached a juncture in my life when I would like to spend more time with my family,” Adelman explained. “I am committed to Go Daddy, one of the world’s most dynamic and innovative Internet brands. I am excited to continue with Go Daddy as a Special Advisor, a role that both allows me to continue to work with some great people and is also critical to our growth.”

“Warren has been an exceptionally valuable member of our team as both President and COO and recently as CEO and has been instrumental in the spectacular growth of Go Daddy over the past nine years,” said Go Daddy Executive Chairman and Founder Bob Parsons. “On behalf of the Board and the Go Daddy family, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Warren for his leadership and support over the years. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his insights in the future.”

Adelman is changing roles during a period of strong momentum at Go Daddy. In late 2011, the company received an investment from KKR, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover Ventures to fuel growth. Since then, the company has accelerated its international expansion efforts, including major investments in India. In 2011, Go Daddy also set a record financial performance, surpassing $1.1 billion in sales, and surpassed the 10 million customer mark worldwide.

Over the last year, Go Daddy has also added new products to better serve its customers. With the recent acquisition of Outright, a provider of data-driven and community-enabled financial management applications, it has expanded its leading portfolio of cloud-based products to help small and medium-sized businesses build their businesses online.

Scott Wagner has been named interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a permanent successor. Wagner joins Go Daddy from KKR’s portfolio operations team, KKR Capstone, which he joined in 2000. He co-leads KKR Capstone’s activities in North America and has held a number of roles with KKR’s investments in the technology and media sectors. Wagner is familiar with Go Daddy, having spent the last year working with the company building up its international strategy.

“I look forward to working with the innovative and long-tenured management team at Go Daddy,” Wagner said. “We will keep enhancing the ways we enable and empower small businesses to grow their online presence.”

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About Go Daddy

Go Daddy is the world’s largest domain name provider, Web hosting provider and new SSL certificate provider, focused on helping small businesses grow larger. Go Daddy provides dozens of cloud-based services and is the largest worldwide mass-market hosting provider by annual revenue according to Tier1 Research (Mass-Market Hosting Report-Winter 2011) and is the #1 provider of net-new SSL certificates for 2011, according to the Netcraft, LTD Secure Server Survey.

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SOURCE: Go Daddy