SAP names Apotheker as co-CEO
Updated 6:42 AM PDT with details from SAP's announcement.
Leo Apotheker
(Credit: SAP)The supervisory board of software maker SAP on Wednesday approved the appointment of Leo Apotheker, the company's top sales executive, to co-CEO.
Starting now, Apotheker will share the top executive position with current CEO Henning Kagermann, who is set to retire next year.
The move also points to Apotheker taking over as sole chief executive. "In my view, facing (upcoming business and technology) challenges together with the new executive team, Leo Apotheker is an ideal CEO and thus my preferred successor for Henning Kagermann," Hasso Plattner, SAP co-founder, said in a statement.
The supervisory board also appointed three new members to the SAP executive board, effective July 1: corporate officers Erwin Gunst, Bill McDermott, and Jim Hagemann Snabe.
Henning Kagermann
(Credit: SAP)The move comes as no surprise. Apotheker, a 19-year SAP veteran who runs the company's sales and marketing operations, currently holds the title of deputy CEO. He has been seen as the logical successor to Kagermann since the departure of Shai Agassi one year ago.
Agassi, who had been seen as a front runner to replace Kagermann, left the company last March to pursue alternative energy and green technology ventures.
Mike Ricciuti joined CNET in 1996. He is now CNET News' Boston-based executive editor and east coast bureau chief, serving as department editor for business technology and software covered by CNET News, Reviews, and Download.com. E-mail Mike. 
