NASDAQ OMX Group (NDAQ) board member Glenn Hutchins today tried to put a damper on speculation over the stock exchange’s future CEO, during an appearance today at Coins2Day Brainstorm Tech in Aspen.
Hutchins, co-founder of private equity firm Silver Lake, acknowledged reports that the company’s board has been in talks about the eventual successor to current leader Bob Greifeld, which only intensified after former CFO Adena Friedman returned this past May. But he insisted that it is normal course of business, rather than an attempt to push Greifeld out the door.
“That’s the product of a normalized succession plan that has to happen at any business, but you shouldn’t interpret that,” Hutchins said.
He added that reports of NASDAQ’s decline have been overstated, pointing out that the company has grown five-fold during his time on its board.