Looking ahead to the initial public offering planned for mid-2018, CloudFlare has hired their first CFO, Thomas Seifert, the former CFO of network security company Symantec. Seifert will oversee key parts of the preparations for CloudFlare’s IPO as well as the company’s global finance department, reporting to co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince.
“Over the last two years, we’ve interviewed many terrific CFO candidates, but when we met Thomas, we immediately knew he was the right person for CloudFlare,” said Prince in a press release. “Thomas’ reputation with public investors, knowledge of U.S. and European markets, and deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities of a fast-growing company like CloudFlare will be of tremendous help as we enter our next phase.”
Seifert, who left Symantec in November of last year, had been their CFO since March 2014, overseeing last year’s acquisition of Blue Coat Systems. Prior to his tenure at Symantec, Seifert has served as executive VP and CFO of Brightstar and CFO and chief accounting officer at Advanced Micro Devices, as well as AMD’s interim CEO for eight months during 2012.
As CloudFlare prepares for their IPO, Seifert will oversee the assembly of internal processes and controls, growing investor relations, and positioning the company to Wall Street. Since their genesis in 2009, CloudFlare’s global network has grown to a 115 data center footprint capable of supporting 10 Tbps. Over the past eight years, CloudFlare has raised $182 million from Microsoft, Fidelity Investments, New Enterprise, and other investors, and currently maintains an annual run rate of over $100 million.