VMware files lawsuit against Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami

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VMware files lawsuit against Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami

Cloud infrastructure firm VMware on Monday announced that it had initiated legal proceedings against Rajiv Ramaswami, its former COO, for material and ongoing breaches of his legal and contractual duties and obligations to VMware.

Indian-born Ramaswami had quit VMware to join Nutanix as CEO, two days after leaving the company.

"For at least two months before resigning from the company, at the same time he was working with senior leadership to shape VMware's key strategic vision and direction, Mr. Ramaswami also was secretly meeting with at least the CEO, CFO, and apparently the entire Board of Directors of Nutanix, Inc. to become Nutanix's Chief Executive Officer," said VMware in a statement. ET has reached out to both companies for a comment.

Nutanix had appointed Ramaswami as chief executive on December 10, after founder Dheeraj Pandey had announced that he would be stepping down from the role.

"Mr. Ramaswami demonstrated poor judgement and had a clear and extended period of conflict of interest. He should have disclosed this conflict of interest to VMware so that the company could have taken steps to protect itself. But he did not notify VMware, and thus deprived the company of the ability to do so by concealing his Nutanix-related activities," said the statement.

The company said that it tried to resolve the matter without litigation but Ramaswami and Nutanix refused to engage with VMware in a satisfactory manner. The company invests billions of dollar in R&D and is committed to protecting our brand, the technological innovations behind our brand, and the value we bring to our customers, it said.

Prior to this, Ramaswami led VMware's Networking and Security business, before which he worked at Broadcom. He earned his B. Tech in Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and his Master's Degree and PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Source: https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate-news/vmware-files-lawsuit-against-nutanix-ceo-rajiv-ramaswami/80005375