Red Hat Names Carolyn Nash as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Rhea-AI Summary

Red Hat has announced the appointment of Carolyn Nash as the new senior vice president and chief operating officer. In addition, Robert Leibrock takes on the role of senior vice president and chief financial officer, while Jim Palermo becomes vice president and chief information officer. Nash, previously CFO, played a vital role in enhancing the company's finance operations. Leibrock brings 20 years of experience from IBM, where he was integral to the $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat. This expansion aims to enhance operational efficiency and support the company's hybrid cloud strategy.

Positive

• Carolyn Nash's promotion as COO is expected to strengthen leadership in Finance and Operations.
• Robert Leibrock's experience from IBM will be beneficial in driving financial management and operational strategies.
• The new leadership structure aims to enhance operational efficiency and adapt to dynamic market conditions.

Negative

• None.

Open source leader also selects new senior vice president and chief financial officer and vice president and chief information officer.

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that Carolyn Nash has been named the company’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, effective immediately. As part of this move, Red Hat is building out the Finance and Operations organization and has named Robert Leibrock senior vice president and chief financial officer and Jim Palermo as vice president and chief information officer. Nash will continue reporting to Red Hat’s president and chief executive officer, Matt Hicks. Leibrock and Palermo will report directly to Nash.

Carolyn Nash, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Red Hat (Photo: Business Wire)

Nash most recently served as Red Hat’s senior vice president and chief financial officer and was responsible for leading the company’s global finance organization. Before assuming the CFO role in early 2022, Nash was vice president of Finance, overseeing the Global Finance Transformation and Operations (GTO) organization. She has played an integral part in strengthening and growing the company’s finance operation. Before Red Hat, she served in leadership positions at Cisco, Hewlett Packard and KPMG in finance and operational roles.

Leibrock brings 20 years of experience in both the financial and operational space to Red Hat. He has spent much of his career at IBM, most recently serving as assistant controller, and was responsible for enterprise-wide financial management, including forecasts, measurements and IBM’s operational management system. He also played a key role in IBM’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat in 2019, responsible for the overall project office, finance and operations functions and driving offering synergies.

Palermo has nearly 30 years of experience in information technology spanning technical and leadership roles. He joined Red Hat in 2010 and most recently he served as vice president of Digital Solutions Delivery (DSD) where he was responsible for developing and driving the environment, tools and delivery for hosting internal workloads both in the hybrid cloud and in Red Hat’s next-generation data centers.

Supporting Quotes
Matt Hicks, president and chief executive officer, Red Hat
“As Red Hat evolves to meet our customers wherever and however they operate across the open hybrid cloud, we need every aspect of our business, from engineering and product development to corporate functions like IT and finance, to perform at the highest possible level. Carolyn’s proven track record shows that she is the right leader to oversee the expanded Finance and Operations organization, backed by the expertise and experience of Bobby and Jim. Together, I’m confident that these leaders can help accelerate Red Hat’s mission to help our customers take advantage of open source innovation while helping us more readily adapt to dynamic market conditions.”

Carolyn Nash, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Red Hat
“I am so grateful to be a part of Red Hat and have the ability to work alongside our incredibly talented and passionate associates every day. The Finance and Operations functions are the engine that fuels our growth and make it possible for all Red Hatters to be successful in their jobs. As Red Hat works toward its mission of being the defining company of the hybrid cloud era, our corporate functions need to be in lockstep. I am excited to work with Bobby, Jim and the rest of the organization as we enable customer success and support Red Hat into the future.”

Robert Leibrock, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Red Hat
"I have been fortunate to work very closely with Red Hat leadership over the last few years so joining the team feels like a natural progression. Red Hat is the driver in the hybrid cloud industry and there is immense opportunity ahead. As CFO, I'm excited to make an impact on Red Hat’s next chapter of success and honored to lead a highly talented group of associates. As more organizations look to open source and Red Hat to help them innovate, we are the right strategic partner to help them modernize their IT infrastructure and applications."

Jim Palermo, vice president and chief information officer, Red Hat
“Customer requirements must be the driver behind IT’s future, especially as organizations transition to complex, multi-layered environments that use open hybrid cloud and automation technologies. IT’s role within the Finance and Operations teams is not only to support broad business operations but also to serve as a reference architecture for Red Hat solutions in production. I am proud to take on this leadership role and help drive alignment within Red Hat’s internal systems and environments as we work together to make hybrid cloud the default language for global IT.”

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About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on the company’s current assumptions regarding future business and financial performance. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Red Hat and the Red Hat logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221012005451/en/

Media:

Allison Showalter

201-341-3942

ashowalt@redhat.com

Source: Red Hat, Inc.

FAQ

Who is the new COO of IBM?

Carolyn Nash has been appointed as the new senior vice president and chief operating officer of Red Hat.

What role did Robert Leibrock have prior to becoming CFO?

Robert Leibrock previously served as assistant controller at IBM before being named CFO at Red Hat.

How does Red Hat's leadership change impact IBM's acquisition?

Robert Leibrock, who was key in IBM's acquisition of Red Hat, will utilize his experience to drive financial strategies.