Heir Apparent?
TD Synnex’s move Thursday to unveil the appointment of Patrick Zammit, currently president of the company’s EMEA business, as its first COO could be seen in isolation as a move to take some of the operating pressure off of CEO Rich Hume, letting him focus on larger strategic planning.
Or it could be the first in a potential grooming of a potential successor to the CEO role if and when Hume decides to look for new opportunities.
Hume, who sat down for a discussion with CRN Thursday about the elevation of Zammit to COO as well as the decision by longtime TD Synnex executive Michael Urban to leave the company by March 1 of next year, said that Zammit could indeed someday be CEO.
[Related: TD Synnex Exec Shake-up: Michael Urban Leaving, Patrick Zammit Is New COO]
“I think it’s fair to read Patrick’s appointment to COO as an endorsement that he is a very good candidate for the CEO role sometime in the future,” Hume told CRN. “But you know, he’s got to demonstrate his abilities within the role. And to be very clear, I don’t anticipate going anywhere anytime soon.”
This wouldn’t be the first time that happened with the distributor. Before TD Synnex was formed by the late 2021 merger of Tech Data and Synnex, Hume served three-plus years as Tech Data CEO. Prior to that, however, he spent two years as the company’s COO.
“If you think about my journey at Tech Data, I came in as the COO and then ultimately ascended to the CEO role,” he said. “But it was a two-year time frame that I had come through that transition.”
Hume also said that Michael Urban’s planned departure on March 1 of next year gives Urban time to work with Zammit on the latter’s transition to the COO role as well as look at the executive bench to see what if any changes may be needed.
Here is an in-depth look at what is happening at the top executive level at TD Synnex.
LEARN MORE: Distribution | Mergers and Acquisitions
Joseph F. Kovar is a senior editor and reporter for the storage and the non-tech-focused channel beats for CRN. He keeps readers abreast of the latest issues related to such areas as data life-cycle, business continuity and disaster recovery, and data centers, along with related services and software, while highlighting some of the key trends that impact the IT channel overall. He can be reached at [email protected].
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