Dropbox CEO Drew Houston steps down, Ashraf Alkarmi named co-CEO

Ashraf Alkarmi, who had served arsenic wide manager of Dropbox's halfway business, becomes co-CEO effectual Tuesday alongside Houston. After a modulation period, Houston is expected to instrumentality connected the enforcement president relation portion Alkarmi becomes sole CEO, the institution said.

Alkarmi's wage includes an $825,000 yearly salary, a people bonus adjacent to his basal salary, and astir $12.65 cardinal successful restricted banal units that volition vest implicit respective years, according to the filing.

Separately, the institution said Michael Torres, presently vice president of merchandise for Google's Chrome, volition articulation Dropbox arsenic main merchandise serviceman connected July 7.

According to CNBC, Houston started Dropbox erstwhile helium was 24, driven by his ain irritation astatine misplacing USB sticks during his clip studying astatine MIT; helium is present 43. Under his leadership, Dropbox became a trailblazer successful unreality retention and Houston was the archetypal laminitis to bring a Y Combinator-incubated institution done an archetypal nationalist offering.

In an interrogation with CNBC, Houston indicated his adjacent determination volition beryllium entrepreneurial, with AI arsenic the focus. He said the existent infinitesimal is unmatched for anyone who wants to physique caller things, and joked that his post-Dropbox beingness would not impact racing sailboats.

Dropbox is present valued astatine conscionable implicit $6 billion, which is little than the $10 cardinal valuation it had from backstage investors successful 2014. The institution passed $2 cardinal successful yearly gross successful 2021, but maturation has slowed, and income dropped successful 2025.

The institution besides said Tuesday that it expects second-quarter 2026 and full-year 2026 fiscal results to beryllium successful enactment with oregon supra antecedently provided guidance ranges.

Houston credited Alkarmi's accomplishment from Vimeo successful precocious 2024 with shifting the company's culture, saying the concern had grown sharper successful listening to customers and bolder successful pursuing merchandise innovation. "I spot the close leader," Houston told CNBC. "The company's successful the close place."