Rackspace Managed Hosting Names Lanham Napier Chief Executive Officer

November 10, 2006; 01:09 AM
Rackspace Managed Hosting™, a leading global provider of managed hosting services, announced that company president Lanham Napier will assume the role of chief executive from current CEO and Chairman of the Board Graham Weston. As they have for more than six years, Napier and Weston will continue to run the company with a unique shared leadership style. Weston will move into the newly-created role of executive chairman.

Napier first joined Rackspace as chief financial officer in April of 2000, shortly before the technology industry hit bottom during the economic downturn. Weston credits Napier with playing a key leadership role in attaining an annual revenue growth of more than 50 percent a year since he joined the company. Napier was named president of Rackspace in 2001 and has worked side-by-side with Weston to establish an operational discipline that focused the company on its customers and Fanatical Support™.

Weston provided seed capital to Rackspace in 1998 and became the company’s chief executive in July 1999. Weston set the path for the last seven years with his unique approach to customer service innovation, growing the company from 12 employees to approximately 1,120 current employees and increasing revenue from $241,000 in the second quarter of 1999 to $52.0 million in the second quarter of 2006. As Weston steps into the newly-created executive chairman role at Rackspace, his daily focus will center on listening to customers and employees as the company grows, while identifying new market opportunities.

“Rackspace would not be the company it is today without Lanham’s leadership. Naming him chief executive shows our confidence in Rackspace’s future under his direction,” said Weston. “Lanham has instilled a strong results-oriented culture, but most importantly, he keeps the company’s focus on Fanatical Support.”

Added Weston, “In my new role as executive chairman, I will be able to step away from the operational burdens and bring a strategic perspective to the long-term direction of the company. I am committed as ever to Rackspace. Lanham and I will continue to work together as partners to build one of the world’s greatest service companies.”

A recognized leader in the global managed hosting market, Rackspace Managed Hosting is a world-class service organization delivering enterprise-level Web infrastructure and managed services to businesses of all sizes. Serving more than 10,000 customers across seven data centers worldwide, Rackspace integrates the industry’s best technologies for each customer need and delivers it as a service via the company’s award-winning Fanatical Support™. Through trusted partnerships with its customers, Rackspace serves as an extension of their IT department, enabling customers to focus on their core business. Founded in 1998, Rackspace has grown more than 50 percent a year since the company’s inception. For more information, please visit www.rackspace.com, or call 800-961-2888.