Why Skills-First Leadership Is Replacing the Ivy League Playbook in the C-Suite
05/23/2025
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The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
July 20, 2021: On Sunday, Zoom announced that it’s buying Five9, a provider of cloud contact center software, in an all-stock transaction that values the company at $14.7 billion.
The deal marks the first billion-dollar acquisition of Zoom and comes as the company gets ready for a post-pandemic world with employees coming back to the office. According to FactSet, it’s the second-biggest U.S. tech deal this year, behind Microsoft’s planned $16 billion purchase of Nuance Communications.
“We are looking for ways to enhance our platform, and the addition of Five9 is a natural fit that can deliver much more happiness and value to our customers,” said Zoom CEO Eric Yuan.
On Friday, Five9 closed with a market cap of $11.9 billion, or $177.60 a share. Zoom said Five9 stockholders would receive 0.5533 shares of Zoom Video Communications for each Five9 share. That values Five9 at $200.28 a share, a 13% premium, and represents nearly 14% of Zoom’s market cap of near to $107 billion.
Zoom has been in the top growth stories in the 16 months since Covid-19 caused a sudden shutdown of offices across the globe, which forced workers in finance, retail, tech, and law offices to communicate from remote locations.
After the revenue expanded by 326% in the year 2020, Zoom faces a natural slowdown as companies reopen and resuming the face-to-face meetings. While the company is launching new products to reckon with coming changes to its business, it’s becoming big that organic growth alone is unlikely to satisfy Wall Street. It needs new revenue sources as Microsoft ramps up the competition in video chat with Teams.
Zoom’s stock price jumped almost 400% in the previous year, though it’s dropped 36% since reaching its peak in October.
Five9 has seen rapid growth of its own since early 2020, as demand surged for call center technology that would allow representatives to do their jobs from home. Companies had to quickly adapt to cloud software of all sorts, including for their contact centers.
Five9′s revenue climbed 33% to $435 million last year. CEO Rowan Trollope told CNBC in May that the company signed two of its largest deals in the latest period, which expected them to generate more than $20 million combined annually.
“We do not have to convince customers that a cloud is an acceptable option anymore,” he said. “They’re just diving in.”
The deal brings two former Cisco executives together. Yuan, founder of Zoom in 2011, had also helped build WebEx, which Cisco bought in 2007 for $3.2 billion. He stayed at Cisco until he left to start Zoom.
Trollope will become the president of Zoom and remain as CEO of Five9, reporting to Yuan.
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
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At seventeen, Professor Richard Rose stepped into a world few adults dare to navigate: the world of children fractured by trauma. He wasn’t a clinician then, nor a scholar. He was simply a young man with a heart tuned to the quiet ache of others.
Following a distinguished Law Enforcement career Joe McGee founded The Securitatem Group to provide contemporary global operational specialist security and specialist security training products and services for private clients, corporate organisations, and Government bodies. They deliver a wide range of services, including complete end-to-end protection packages, close protection, residential security, protection drivers, and online and physical installations. They provide covert and overt investigations and specialist surveillance services with a Broad range of weapons and tactical-based training, including conflict management, risk and threat management, tactical training, tactical medicine, and command and control training.
Jay Wright, CEO and Co-Owner of Virgin Wines infectious energy, enthusiasm, passion and drive has been instrumental in creating an environment that encourages talent to thrive and a culture that puts the customer at the very heart of every decision-making process.
Fabio de Concilio is the visionary CEO & Chairman of the Board at Farmacosmo, a leading organization dedicated to mental health and community support services. With a deep commitment to identifying and meeting customer needs, Fabio ensures that high standards are maintained across the board.
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