Darktrace CEO Steps Down as Thoma Bravo Buys Company

Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson is stepping down ahead of the cybersecurity firm’s takeover by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo. 

Gustafsson, who has been CEO since 2016, will leave the company before its £4.3bn takeover by Thoma Bravo concludes.

Jill Popelka, the company’s current chief of operations will become the new CEO, while Gustafsson will remain on the board as a non-executive director after completion. 

The announcement marks the end of an era for Darktrace, which has been at the forefront of AI-driven cybersecurity solutions since its founding in 2013. 

“Darktrace has been a huge part of my life and my identity for over a decade,” Gustafsson said. “I am immensely proud of everything we have achieved in that time.”

She added: “With the acquisition of Darktrace by Thoma Bravo nearing its completion and with us having identified an excellent successor in Jill, now is the right time to hand over the reins so Jill can lead Darktrace through its transition into private ownership and beyond.”

The US company is known for its investments in software and technology companies and is expected to provide Darkface with additional resources to accelerate its growth.

Poppy Gustafsson Darktrace history 

Poppy Gustafsson was part of the team of entrepreneurs, mathematicians and intelligence experts who founded Darktrace in 2013. 

Gustaffson grew up in Cambridgeshire before obtaining a degree in mathematics from the University of Sheffield and qualifying as an accountant with Deloitte.

She worked for Armadeus Capital and the late Mike Lynch’s Autonomy before co-founding Darktrace at the age of 30.  

Gustafsson, alongside her fellow co-founder Jack Stockdale, was honoured with an OBE for services to cybersecurity in 2019, six years after Darktrace was founded.

The outgoing CEO’s tenure has been marked with several milestones, including Darktrace's initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in April 2021, which valued the company at £1.7bn.

Under her leadership, the company has grown from a small start-up to a global player with a market capitalisation of around £7bn at its peak.

Who is Jill Popelka, new CEO of Darktrace?

Popelka joined Darktrace as its non-executive director at the beginning of this year before taking up the role of COO in June.

She began her career at Accenture before going on to become president of SAP SuccessFactors, one of the largest enterprise cloud businesses in the world, and was then head of enterprise services at Snap Inc.

Popelka said: “Darktrace is at the intersection of two of the hottest trends in technology right now, cybersecurity and AI, and it is clear to me that our unique technology, matched with the excellent Darktrace team, sets the company up for continued success."

Andrew Almeida, partner at Thoma Bravo, added: “We are fully supportive of Poppy and the board’s succession plan. Jill is the perfect leader to build on Poppy’s tremendous legacy at Darktrace as it embarks on this next phase of its life.”

Controversial acquisition

Darktrace’s acquisition also marks the end of the company's relatively short tenure as a public company.

Peel Hunt’s research chief Charles Hall described the acquisition as a “hammer blow for the UK market.”

Hall said: “It marks the departure of one of the leading UK technology companies and into the hands of US private equity, to boot.’ 

Darktrace has been entangled in various controversies over the years. 

In 2023 Quintessential Capital Management (QCM) alleged that Darktrace appeared to have simulated or anticipated sales to “phantom” customers through a “network of willing resellers”.

QCM further alleged that the company appeared to have incorrectly booked sales of hardware as software, the Financial Times reported.

However, Darktrace rebutted the accusations and commissioned EY to review its financial processes and controls. EY reported at the end of 2023 that it had not found anything that would have affected the company's previous financial statements. 

These issues contributed to volatility in the company's stock price and ultimately led to the agreement with Thoma Bravo, announced in August 2023, to take the company private.

‘Unfounded’ accusations

Gustafsson described these allegations as “unfounded inferences”, adding: “I stand by my team and the business I represent”.

The company was founded with backing from late billionaire Mike Lynch’s Invoke Capital, who was a member of the board until 2018.

Mike Lynch tragically died after the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month. 

Thoma Bravo were previously in discussions to take over Darktrace in August 2022 but it was reported that these discussions broke off in September 2022.