Akram Atallah Quits ICANN To Become CEO of Donuts, Joins former Boss Fadi Chehade
The current ICANN and first president of ICANN’s Global Domains Division has quit his post and is headed to Donuts to assume the role of CEO, the firm has announced. Current CEO of the global leader in high-quality, new top-level Internet domains, Bruce Jaffe is stepping down and will continue to act as a senior advisor to the company during this transition.
“We thank Bruce for his stewardship of Donuts, during which in his tenure as president and chief executive officer, the company raised over $100 million in debt financing to acquire Rightside, and successfully engaged in a process to sell Donuts to Abry Partners,” said Erik Brooks, managing partner at Abry Partners and Donuts board member.
“We are delighted to welcome Akram to Donuts,” Erik continued. “His deep experience in managing global organizations and rapidly-growing technology companies will be essential to driving Donuts’ next phase of growth. We are confident that Akram’s proven track record in and outside the domain name industry will broaden Donuts’ reputation as the innovative industry platform for new top-level domains and will enable the company to pursue rapid growth along multiple pathways.”
Akram joins the former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade who resigned from his post in March 2016 and joined ABRY Partners, a Boston-based private equity investment firm as a Senior Advisor on Digital Strategy.
Announcing the departure, Göran Marby, President & CEO, ICANN said “I want to extend my warmest wishes to Akram Atallah, President, Global Domains Division, who has decided to leave ICANN org for another opportunity after eight years, effective immediately.”
“I am thrilled to join the Donuts team,” said Akram Atallah. “I relish the challenge of further expanding overall awareness of the company’s incredible top-level domain (TLD) assets, discovering new ways to use and leverage TLDs, and through its growth and success making Donuts a recognized, global innovation platform for people and organizations to create and manage their digital identities.
ICANN has announced that Cyrus Namazi, VP, DNS Industry Engagement, Global Domains Division, will serve as interim department head for the Global Domains Division, to help ensure a smooth transition. David Conrad, Chief Technology Officer, will provide executive support of the IANA team in the interim.
