Darktrace chief Poppy Gustafsson steps down

The co-founder and chief executive of Darktrace has stepped down from the British cybersecurity specialist with immediate effect.
Poppy Gustafsson, who has led the company since 2016, is leaving ahead of the completion of a £4.3 billion takeover by Thoma Bravo, the US private equity firm.
She will be succeeded by Jill Popelka, Darktrace’s current chief operating officer.
Gustafsson said: “With the acquisition of Darktrace by Thoma Bravo nearing its completion and with us having identified an excellent successor in Jill, now is the right time to hand over the reins.”
She will join a new Darktrace board of directors as a non-executive director once the takeover is complete.
Gustafsson was part of the team of mathematicians, business people and intelligence experts who founded Darktrace in 2013 and brought its AI-powered cybersecurity solutions to market. Mike Lynch, the British technology entrepreneur who died when his superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily last month, was one of the early backers.
Darktrace is one of the UK’s leading technology businesses in the UK. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 and is currently in the FTSE 100.
When it agreed to be taken private by Thoma Bravo in April, the deal was seen as a further blow to the London stock market. Critics regarded it as fresh evidence of a failure by investors to properly value its technology companies.
The Chicago-based buyout firm’s bid at $7.75 a share, valued Darktrace shares at 620p. Darktrace shares were trading unchanged at 583½p.
Andrew Almeida, partner at Thoma Bravo, said: “We are fully supportive of Poppy and the board’s succession plan. Jill is the perfect leader to build on Poppy’s tremendous legacy at Darktrace as it embarks on this next phase of its life.”