CyrusOne Taps Equinix Veteran Eric Schwartz as its New CEO

Data center developer CyrusOne has picked industry veteran Eric Schwartz as Chief Executive Officer, the company said Monday. Schwartz, who has held a series of leadership roles at Equinix, will begin his new post on Oct. 1.

Schwartz succeeds Dave Ferdman, who has served as CyrusOne’s interim President & Chief Executive Officer since July 2021. Ferdman, the founder of CyrusOne, will continue as a member of the board.

The choice of a new CEO continues the big changes at CyrusOne, which was recently acquired for $15 billion by huge global investors KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

“I am thrilled to join CyrusOne to help accelerate the company’s growth and strengthen our partnerships with our customers,” said Schwartz. “Since the acquisition, Dave and the leadership team have done a great job growing CyrusOne with an ambitious investment program and focused execution, and I look forward to joining the company and helping our team continue to achieve success.”

“Eric brings tremendous experience as a leader to CyrusOne, having served as an executive at Equinix for 16 years,” said Waldemar Szlezak, Partner at KKR, noting that Schwartz’s experience includes “leading the EMEA region for over a decade, leading the development of data centers for large-scale customers, and playing an integral role as a member of the company’s global leadership team.”

‘A New Era of Expansion’

CyrusOne operates more than 50 data centers and 4 million square feet of data center space across the globe, working with both hyperscale operators and enterprise customers. The company’s focus on accelerated deployment has helped it reach the very top levels of the data center business.

But CyrusOne has seen a series of changes in the executive suite in recent years, which began in February 2020, when long-time CEO Gary Wojtaszek departed abruptly, and the board turned to industry veteran Tesh Durvasula as interim President and CEO. Four months later, the board named real estate executive Bruce Duncan the new President and CEO, and Durvasula left the company.

When Duncan departed in 2021 after just a year on the job, the board turned to Ferdman to return as interim CEO.

“We greatly appreciate Dave’s contribution in coming back to the CEO role to guide the company through the recent acquisition and growth and are confident that he will continue to support the company in the future as a member of the board,” said Will Brilliant, Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners.

“It has been my honor to help lead CyrusOne during the past year and through the acquisition,” said Ferdman. “I am proud of what we have achieved, and I am excited for Eric and our entire CyrusOne team as we embark on a new era of expansion.”