Akamai Appoints James Benson as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Published on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 16:19 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

Veteran finance executive and current Akamai Senior Vice President of Finance to succeed JD Sherman in a planned transition

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere, announced today a planned transition in leadership within the Company's finance organization.  James Benson, Akamai's Senior Vice President of Finance will succeed J. Donald (JD) Sherman as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective March 1st.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100225/AKAMAILOGO )

With over 20 years of financial leadership experience in the information technology industry, Mr. Benson joined Akamai from Hewlett Packard in 2009, having served previously as Vice President, Finance/Operations and CFO for HP's Americas Technology Solutions Group, a $14 billion P&L entity that encompassed HP's server, storage, software and services divisions.  Earlier, Mr. Benson held a series of executive positions in finance at HP, Compaq Computer Corp. and Digital Equipment Corp.  Mr. Benson has an MBA from Clark University and a BS in Finance from Bentley College.

"I am delighted to announce Jim's promotion to CFO at Akamai," said Paul Sagan, Akamai's President and CEO.  "Jim is an accomplished finance executive with broad knowledge of the I.T. industry.  Having already worked closely with Jim for the past two years, I look forward to benefitting from his experience and insights into the future of Internet-based enterprise computing and the direction of the cloud computing marketplace in general."

"Akamai is well positioned to help enterprises as they adopt strategies across the areas of cloud, mobile, security, and media," said Mr. Benson. "It has been a great experience to be a part of Akamai's success within these important I.T. trends over the past two years, and I'm looking forward to this next opportunity to help lead the company's financial direction as we pursue continued growth, innovation, and global expansion."

As CFO, Mr. Benson will be responsible for all of Akamai's financial operations, including corporate accounting, external reporting, financial planning, treasury, tax and investor relations.   In addition, he will oversee internal audit and real estate. He will report directly to Mr. Sagan.

"I want to thank JD for all he has contributed to Akamai as an executive and a trusted advisor," Mr. Sagan added.  "He joined as we were entering a crucial period of global expansion and helped us scale to over $1 billion in annual revenue.  JD put an excellent plan in place to prepare a successor and we are pleased that he was able to create a path for himself to pursue his personal interest in an operating role in an earlier stage venture company.  We wish him well with his next endeavor."

Sherman, who has been Akamai's CFO since 2006, is leaving to become President and Chief Operating Officer of HubSpot, a marketing software company.  Regarding his tenure at Akamai, Sherman said, "It has been an honor to work with such an accomplished team of professionals at Akamai.  I have full confidence in the management and finance teams that will help carry the Company's mission forward."

About Akamai

Akamai® is the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere.  At the core of the Company's solutions is the Akamai Intelligent Platform™ providing extensive reach, coupled with unmatched reliability, security, visibility and expertise.  Akamai removes the complexities of connecting the increasingly mobile world, supporting 24/7 consumer demand, and enabling enterprises to securely leverage the cloud.  To learn more about how Akamai is accelerating the pace of innovation in a hyperconnected world, please visit www.akamai.com or blogs.akamai.com, and follow @Akamai on Twitter.

SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.