VMware: A Global Leader in Wealth Vaporization Solutions

VMware (VMW), whose share price set records last year by spiking more than 300 percent in the months following its IPO, offered a bit of perspective on the exuberance with which that offering was met today, delivering a brace of ugly announcements. First, the virtualization firm said that co-founder and CEO Diane Greene has resigned and will be replaced with former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz. Second, the company warned that it expects 2008 sales to come in “modestly below” its previous estimates of 50 percent growth over last year’s revenue.

“As one of the founders and the leader of VMware, Diane guided the creation and development of a company that is changing the way that people think about computing,” Joe Tucci, Chairman of VMware’s board, said in a statement. “The board thanks her for her considerable contributions to VMware and wishes her every success in the future.”

VMware offered no reason for Greene’s departure, though presumably it has something to do with the company’s lowered guidance. The company’s stock tanked on the news, falling more than 30 percent to $36.97, taking billions of dollars of shareholder wealth with it. Truly an ugly decline for a company that launched the biggest technology IPO since Google went public in 2004. Since hitting a 52-week high of $125.25 last October, shares VMware have shed nearly 70 percent of their value.