Highlights from SAP conference call yesterday; McDermott says he has no political ambitions, will try to learn German

Tom Paine

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From SAP's conference call yesterday on its leadership transition, explaining Sunday's announcement that Jim Hagemann Snabe will step down as co-CEO in May 2014, leaving Newtown Square-based Bill McDermott as sole CEO. Snabe will be proposed for election to the SAP Supervisory Board in 2014.

(Transcript provided by Seeking Alpha)



Bill McDermott responds to question about whether he has political ambitions:

"First of all, I'm not exactly certain as to where this political rumor comes from. But I must admit, I've heard it enough times now that I'm happy you asked the question so I can set the record straight. The real passion of my professional life is SAP. And I have no plans nor have I ever had plans to run for public office. So we can take that completely off the table."

McDermott on staying at SAP for the term of his contract, which runs through 2017:

"I love working with SAP and the role that I have here and I fully intend to honor my contract, which runs through 2017. And who knows, I'm a young enough guy that I don't intend to head to a beach after 2017. So should the Supervisory Board want me longer, I'm not in any rush."

McDermott on spending more time in Germany, and learning to speak German:

"In terms of Germany and spending time in Germany, one of the magical parts of the co-CEO, combination of Jim and I, is we were very thoughtful about dividing our time, where it could be the best in service to our customers, our partners and of course, our employees. And you're absolutely right. With this new structure, when it does set in place, I'll absolutely spend more time in Germany, very committed to Germany. I've been with this company since 2002. I know a little bit about its heritage, its culture and the brilliant engineers that we have in Germany and the great workforce that we have in Germany. And I'm really looking forward to spending more time. I'm also at a point in my life where my wife and I are almost empty nesters. And when that happens, you just have a little bit more freedom, where you don't have to make it home every weekend. And I certainly will look to spend my fair share of times in Germany and Europe as well. In terms of learning Germany -- German, I certainly accept that challenge. It's something that I'd like to do a lot better at."

Snabe, on whether he is a lame duck:

"I think we have proven over 3 years now that we are very effective together. There's no reason why that shouldn't continue. We will continue to divide and conquer. Of course, we will use the 10 months to transition things as well. I think you'll see the company accelerating its pace, which is already very high. So no ducks here."


McDermott on Vishal Sikka (member of the Executive Board of SAP AG and the Global Managing Board, heading all SAP products and innovation) and Rob Enslin (president of Sales):

"And clearly, as you mentioned Vishal, I've said and Jim has repeatedly said as well, we think he is one of the great innovators in the world. So I would expect Vishal to jump in on the development and technology side in a huge way and lead us forward. That's his role. Now on the field and the go-to-market side, we have a guy by the name of Rob Enslin. So I see this beautiful connection between Vishal and Rob innovation immediately transferred to customer success, and that's much in the same way that Jim and I work. So we have really built the management team and the next generation of leaders in the company, and they're ready for that challenge."

McDermott, in closing remarks:

"It is our time, and we really have a great future in front of us and we're not going to let anything stand in the way of that."