Equinix Taps Charles Meyers As CEO Months After Former Chief’s Abrupt Exit

Longtime tech leader and eight-year Equinix executive Charles Meyers has been appointed president and CEO of Equinix, effective immediately, the company announced on Wednesday.

The announcement comes eight months after the sudden resignation of former CEO Steve Smith, which Equinix said was due to Smith “exercising poor judgment with respect to an employee matter.”

In his new capacity with Redwood City, Calif.-based Equinix, Meyers will take over for interim CEO Peter Van Camp, who has been filling in since January 2018. Van Camp will resume his role as executive chairman of the Equinix board of directors, according to the company.

[Related: Data Center Powerhouse Equinix To Acquire Infomart Dallas For $800 Million]

Meyers has been with Equinix, a global interconnection and data center provider, since 2010, most recently serving as president of strategy, services and innovation. Prior to that, Meyers sat in the chief operating officer seat and also served as president of the Americas, the company's largest operating region.

Van Camp called Meyers an "outstanding leader" who has contributed to Equinix's success for nearly a decade as the cloud giant growing from $1.2 billion in revenue to the expected $5 billion Equinix expects to generate this year.

"[Meyers] brings that rare combination of a world-class operator combined with a passion and drive for strategic innovation. These characteristics, and his proven track record of delivering value for our customers and our shareholders, make him an excellent choice to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead," Van Camp said in a statement.

For his part, Meyers called the opportunity for Equinix and its partners "enormous" in the cloud-first world that businesses are dealing with today.

"I look forward to partnering with my over 7,500 colleagues around the globe in service to our customers and partners as we expand our unmatched ability to help organizations drive their digital transformation agendas," Meyers said in a statement.

Before his career with Equinix, Meyers served as group president for VeriSign, and group vice president of marketing for former telecom provider Level 3 Communications, now a part of CenturyLink.

Since his abrupt leave from Equinix, Smith joined private equity firm GI Partners as a managing director.

Equinix’s stock rose less than 1 percent on Wednesday afternoon to $437.62 after the CEO pick was announced.