Philippe Courtot

It is with profound sadness that Qualys, Inc. announces the passing of Philippe Courtot, the company’s former CEO, chairman, and leader for the past 20 years. Philippe passed away on June 5, at the age of 76. Philippe led Qualys through a remarkable journey and built it into a leading...

Cloud security firm Qualys has announced the sad news of the passing of its former CEO, chairman and leader for the past 20 years, Philippe Courtot, at the age of 76. Courtot oversaw the significant growth of Qualys since becoming its CEO in March 2001, initially investing in the company in 1999 when it was founded. His vision to build a cloud delivery platform that would allow for scanning any network on a global scale became realised in Qualys’ global expansion over the past two decades. It first went public in 2012.

I was deeply saddened this weekend to learn of the passing of my friend Philippe Courtot, the founder, former chairman and CEO of Qualys (and several other companies before that). The word visionary gets tossed around a lot in today’s world, but if there ever was a visionary, it was Philippe.

Qualys Announces Passing of Former CEO and Industry Visionary Philippe Courtot. FOSTER CITY, Calif., June 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- It is with profound sadness that Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS), today announces the passing of Philippe Courtot, the company's former CEO, chairman and leader for the past 20 years. Philippe passed away on June 5, at the age of 76.

Serial entrepreneur Philippe Courtot has resigned from his role as Qualys’ CEO for health reasons after leading the cloud security vendor for two decades. The departure of Courtot, 76, from Foster City, Calif.-based Qualys was announced Monday, six weeks after he temporarily stepped aside to address non-COVID health issues. Courtot’s top deputy – President and Chief Product Officer Sumedh Thakar – has served as Qualys’ interim CEO and board member since Feb. 7, and Thakar will remain in both positions on an interim basis going forward.

Sumedh Thakar Continues as Interim CEO and Board Member. Qualys, Inc., a pioneer and leading provider of disruptive cloud-based IT, security and compliance solutions, announced that Philippe Courtot, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, has resigned from his role as CEO for health reasons. Courtot took a leave...

Cloud-based IT, security, and compliance solution provider Qualys Inc (NASDAQ: QLYS) announced the resignation of Chairman and CEO Philippe Courtot for health reasons after serving in the position for two decades. Courtot took a leave of absence due to health issues unrelated to COVID-19 on February 7. Qualys' President and...

Sumedh Thakar, Qualys President and Chief Product Officer, Appointed Interim CEO. Qualys, a pioneer and leading provider of disruptive cloud-based IT, security and compliance solutions, announced Philippe Courtot, chairman of the board and chief executive officer (CEO), is taking a leave of absence due to health issues unrelated to COVID-19. Qualys’ Board of Directors appointed Sumedh Thakar, president and chief product officer, as interim CEO and principal executive officer on February 7, 2021. The Board also appointed Thakar to serve on the Board as a Class III director until Qualys’ 2021 annual meeting of stockholders, or until his successor is duly elected and qualified.

Longtime Qualys CEO Phillippe Courtot is temporarily stepping aside to address non-COVID health issues, with top deputy Sumedh Thakar stepping up to lead the organization. The Foster City, Calif.-based cloud security vendor appointed President and Chief Product Officer Thakar Sunday to serve as interim CEO and a director on the company’s board. Thakar was praised by Qualys Lead Independent Director Sandra Bergeron for his in-depth experience, customer-oriented mindset and success in transforming the Qualys Platform and product strategy.

Sumedh Thakar, Qualys President and Chief Product Officer, Appointed Interim CEO. Sandra E. Bergeron, Qualys’ Lead Independent Director, stated, “On behalf of Qualys’ Board and all of our employees, we wish Philippe a speedy recovery. As a part of our ongoing succession planning, the Board previously identified Sumedh as the right person to assume interim leadership of the company in an event such as this. During Philippe’s leave of absence, Sumedh has the full support of the Board. With nearly 20 years at Qualys, he brings in-depth experience and has led the transformation of the Qualys Platform and product strategy. We know he has the same customer-oriented mindset that Philippe champions, and that under his guidance, Qualys will continue to provide best-in-class security and compliance solutions.”