As many of you know, I’ve spent the last 18 years at VMware. When I came on board as an intern in 2002, we were an independent company. In January of 2004, we were acquired by EMC (now Dell EMC). Four years later, EMC sold 15% of VMware via an initial public offering. We celebrated the moment by ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Why the history lesson? Well, to quote Yogi Berra, “This is like déjà vu all over again.” On December 14, 2021, VMware once again rang the bell at NYSE, this time to celebrate our spinoff from Dell, marking the beginning of our next phase — as an independent public company.
The separation from Dell Technologies presents a world of new possibilities for VMware. While we will continue to strengthen our strategic relationship with Dell to serve our joint customers, the spinoff will give us access to an expanded set of customers and partners. It also enhances our ability to grow our ecosystem across all cloud and on-premises infrastructure vendors.
The bottom line is that this new independent governance model will open up bright new avenues for innovation.
“This is a special moment for our company and our team,” said VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram in a recent announcement. “Multi-cloud will be the model for digital business for the next 20 years. And in this vibrant, dynamic marketplace…we are well-positioned to accelerate our strategy and continue driving innovation in the years ahead.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Looking forward to what the next 18 years will bring!
Best,
Kit
Comments