Duncan Out as CyrusOne CEO, Co-Founder Ferdman in as Interim CEO

A seasoned REIT executive, Duncan hadn’t had any experience in the data center business when he was appointed last year.

Yevgeniy Sverdlik, Former Editor-in-Chief

July 29, 2021

2 Min Read
CyrusOne data center in Carrollton, Texas
CyrusOne data center in Carrollton, TexasCyrusOne

After only about a year in the chief executive chair of CyrusOne, one of the world’s largest data center operators, Bruce Duncan is out. David Ferdman, a former CyrusOne CEO who was one of its founders, will be filling in while the board searches for a more permanent replacement.

While a seasoned and successful REIT executive, Duncan hadn’t had any experience in the data center business when he was appointed last year – a fact that raised some eyebrows. The board chose him to replace Gary Wojtaszek, who led the company for close to nine years before stepping down in February 2020, after a period of slow hyperscale leasing led to a drag on the stock price.

After a short-lived spike following Duncan’s appointment last June, the stock hasn’t risen in price during his brief tenure overall and this week was trading below its price on the day his appointment was announced.

The price rose slightly Wednesday afternoon on the announcement of Duncan’s replacement but dropped sharply Thursday morning.

With 1.9 percent market share, Dallas-based CyrusOne is the world’s seventh-largest data center provider, according to Structure Research.

CyrusOne reported its second-quarter results Wednesday afternoon, simultaneously with the announcement of the leadership change. Its revenue for the quarter was $284.6 million – up 11 percent year over year. Net income, however, was down 84 percent, and FFO (funds from operations) per share were down 3 percent.

CyrusOne is separating with Duncan completely, meaning he’s also resigning as director of the company. Ferdman, who’s been on the company’s board, will remain there while in the interim CEO role.

“Dave co-founded CyrusOne, was our CEO until 2010, and has remained continuously engaged with the Company in various roles, including serving on the Board of Directors since 2013,” Lynn Wentworth, chair of the board, said in a statement.

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