ServiceNow founder Fred Luddy sells $13.2m stake in 'defining enterprise software company of the 21st century'
(2020/09/23)
- Reference: 1600881306
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/09/23/servicenow_founder_sells_shares/
- Source link:
ServiceNow's unstoppable showman CEO, Bill McDermott, has been telling anyone who will listen that the business's "destiny" is [1]"to become the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century" .
But founder Fred Luddy either seems to have missed the memo or is not quite believing the hype.
He [2]has sold around $13.275m in ServiceNow stock this week, adding to the [3]$12m he sold in July .
It is difficult to speculate on why Luddy might be looking to divest his interest in the company he founded. It might just be a sensible move to spread risk across a greater number of companies or other investments. But with ServiceNow's share price climbing steadily since April, it could equally be seen as reflecting the notion that the share price has gone just about as far as it will go.
It's IPO week and one of Wall Street's own is raising the spectre of a stock market crash [4]READ MORE
It is equally possible that he read [5]Bernstein's recent report on the similarities between the stock market in 2020 and during the early 2000s when the .com bubble burst, and decided to take affirmative action.
ServiceNow's market capitalisation is around $90bn, well short of those companies that do actually dominate enterprise software. It is about half of Oracle's value and about 55 per cent of SAP's market worth, for example.
Company financials have been headed in the right direction and in [6]Q2 , revenue was up 28 per cent year on year to $1.07bn while subscription sales were up 30 per cent to $1.016bn and professional services edged up 5 per cent to $55m. It also turned a profit of $41m versus a loss of $11m a year ago.
Given his history, Luddy could just be being cautious. In 2004, he reportedly [7]lost $35m after an [8]accounting fraud scandal hit his previous company, Peregrine Systems, where he was CTO. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/servicenow_q2_2020_results/
[2] https://www.servicenow.com/company/investor-relations/sec-filings.html
[3] https://seekingalpha.com/news/3590279-servicenow-founder-and-chairman-sells-shares
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/18/its_ipo_week_and_one/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/18/its_ipo_week_and_one/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/servicenow_q2_2020_results/
[7] https://www.forbes.com/feature/innovative-companies-service-now/#478f0a3bc603
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2002/06/26/scandalhit_peregrine_appoints_new_cfo/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
But founder Fred Luddy either seems to have missed the memo or is not quite believing the hype.
He [2]has sold around $13.275m in ServiceNow stock this week, adding to the [3]$12m he sold in July .
It is difficult to speculate on why Luddy might be looking to divest his interest in the company he founded. It might just be a sensible move to spread risk across a greater number of companies or other investments. But with ServiceNow's share price climbing steadily since April, it could equally be seen as reflecting the notion that the share price has gone just about as far as it will go.
It's IPO week and one of Wall Street's own is raising the spectre of a stock market crash [4]READ MORE
It is equally possible that he read [5]Bernstein's recent report on the similarities between the stock market in 2020 and during the early 2000s when the .com bubble burst, and decided to take affirmative action.
ServiceNow's market capitalisation is around $90bn, well short of those companies that do actually dominate enterprise software. It is about half of Oracle's value and about 55 per cent of SAP's market worth, for example.
Company financials have been headed in the right direction and in [6]Q2 , revenue was up 28 per cent year on year to $1.07bn while subscription sales were up 30 per cent to $1.016bn and professional services edged up 5 per cent to $55m. It also turned a profit of $41m versus a loss of $11m a year ago.
Given his history, Luddy could just be being cautious. In 2004, he reportedly [7]lost $35m after an [8]accounting fraud scandal hit his previous company, Peregrine Systems, where he was CTO. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/servicenow_q2_2020_results/
[2] https://www.servicenow.com/company/investor-relations/sec-filings.html
[3] https://seekingalpha.com/news/3590279-servicenow-founder-and-chairman-sells-shares
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/18/its_ipo_week_and_one/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/18/its_ipo_week_and_one/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/servicenow_q2_2020_results/
[7] https://www.forbes.com/feature/innovative-companies-service-now/#478f0a3bc603
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2002/06/26/scandalhit_peregrine_appoints_new_cfo/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Can't blame him(?), it's worse than the 1st bubble.
There was a lot of extremely overvalued web companies 20 years ago, but to me and due to their lower volume then, the current bubble is just insanity. It is clear to me that people just want to ignore reality because they're too invested and don't want to be "that guy". What is very worrisome is however they must have corrupted the system both legally and financially to sustain such an illusion that the foundation of not just ethical but also practical business is forever decayed. Once practicality is lost, is it officially everyone for themselves?
A line from the movie Coming to America (Eddie Murphy): "Fuck you, fuck you and fuck you. Who's next?"