Bulletins

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman walks back remarks on diversity, merit

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman

Photo: Snowflake

After telling Bloomberg TV that he can't allow a push for diversity in tech to "override merit," Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman released a statement Monday apologizing for a "lack of clarity" in those comments.

"Comments I made during a media interview last week may have led some to infer that I believe that diversity and merit are mutually exclusive when it comes to recruitment, hiring and promotion. I do not believe this, and I want to personally apologize to anyone who may have been hurt or offended by my comments," Slootman said in a blog post. During an interview with Bloomberg TV last week, Slootman expressed worries that "we're actually highly sympathetic to diversity but we just don't want that to override merit. If I start doing that, I start compromising the company's mission literally."

Slootman also promised that Snowflake "under my personal leadership, will undertake a comprehensive review across our company of all of our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to help ensure that we are taking appropriate steps." He helped lead the company to the largest software IPO of all time last year, although the company's stock has retreated in 2021.

Tom Krazit

Tom Krazit ( @tomkrazit) is Protocol's enterprise editor, covering cloud computing and enterprise technology out of the Pacific Northwest. He has written and edited stories about the technology industry for almost two decades for publications such as IDG, CNET, paidContent, and GeekWire, and served as executive editor of Gigaom and Structure.

snowflakefrank slootman
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