Datto founder Austin McChord follows brother through exit door

McChord stepping down just two weeks after brother Ian announces his departure, but will remain as a major shareholder and will still speak at DattoCon18 Barcelona

Austin McChord has resigned as CEO of Datto just two weeks after his brother, Ian, exited the vendor.

In a statement last night, Datto confirmed that McChord, who founded the business continuity vendor in 2007, is stepping aside and will be replaced by Datto president and COO Tim Weller while an executive search is completed. He will stay on as a major shareholder and a member of the board of directors, and will still deliver a keynote at DattoCon18 Barcelona next week.

McChord's departure comes a year after business continuity specialist Datto was acquired for $1.5bn by Vista Private Equity and merged with professional services automation specialist Autotask to create a managed services powerhouse.

Brother Ian, who was vice president of product management at Datto, used a LinkedIn post to announce his departure two weeks ago (complete with the picture above).

In last night's statement, Austin McChord described his departure as a "natural evolution for the company and me", adding that he will take part in the executive search for his successor.

"I founded Datto 11 years ago in a basement. What started out as an entrepreneurial dream, has grown into a team of 1,400 employees serving more than 14,000 managed service provider with reach in 132 countries," he said.

"Datto was my first passion, and I'm looking forward to focusing my efforts on providing strategic counsel and support now that the company is in a market-leading position."

McChord has been generous with his wealth, last December donating $50m to his alma mater Rochester Institute of Technology.

Nadeem Syed, operating principal at Vista Equity Partners, added. "While it is always difficult when a founder moves on from a company he built, we are truly grateful for what Austin has created. We look forward to working with him in his capacity as a board member and advisor as we move into this next phase."