Freshworks Stock Drops as Girish Mathrubootham Steps Down As CEO

Girish Mathrubootham, the CEO of Freshworks, is now the executive chairman of the company. Dennis Woodside has replaced him as the CEO, effective May 1st. This has come as a shock to employees and IT firms.

Nasdaq-listed SaaS firm Freshworks:

Freshworks is a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product provider primarily focused on customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. On Wednesday, the Nasdaq-listed SaaS firm announced CEO Girish Mathrubootham's resignation.

Girish Mathrubootham As Executive Chairman

Girish Mathrubootham has posted on his X page, "After spending almost 14 years since founding Freshworks as a tiny startup in Chennai,  to scaling it to be a global Saas player and the first Indian Saas company to list on Nasdaq, I'm excited to announce that I'm stepping into a new role as Executive Chairman of Freshworks. Dennis Woodside, our President, will be the new CEO of Freshworks."

In a statement to his employees, he added, "As I write to you today, I'm filled with many emotions. The past 14 years have been an incredible journey, one that has seen Freshworks grow from a fledgling startup in Chennai into the global SaaS company that we are today. I'm incredibly proud that we are the first Indian SaaS company listed on Nasdaq.

We're a true friend to more than 67,000 customers worldwide, and our global Kudumba now has over 4,900 talented members. This journey, however, would not have been possible without each of you coming in and making Freshworks a little bit better every day."

Girish even said the reason behind his dropping from CEO post, "A couple of years ago, I started talking with our board about my longer-term plans for Freshworks. I shared that when the time is right, I would like to shift my focus to our long-term product vision and invest in our presence in India. These are areas where I get the most energy and where I'm also playing to my strengths."

Freshworks is My Baby, Says Girish:

His hearfelt words melted the Freshworks employees when he said that the freshworks is his baby. He have watched her grow from a toddler to a teenager. It's like watching his daughter getting married.

"Freshworks is my baby, and over the years I have seen her grow—as a toddler trying to walk, a child growing really fast, and a teenager growing stronger. The emotions running through my mind are similar to a father experiencing his beloved daughter's marriage, happy and sad at the same time, knowing fully well that she has found the right one and is going to accomplish greater things in life."

Freshworks Shares Dropped:

Mathrubootham will now be spending more time on the long-term product vision, innovation and AI strategy. The company's stock plummeted by almost 25% in after-hours Nasdaq trading on Wednesday in response to the news.