Christopher Young to Succeed David DeStefano as Vertex's President and Chief Executive Officer

Leadership Transition to Occur on November 10, 2025; David DeStefano to Serve as Non-Executive Chairperson

Announces Preliminary Third Quarter Financial Results

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Oct. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERX) ("Vertex" or the "Company"), a leading global provider of indirect tax solutions, today announced that David DeStefano will retire as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective November 10, 2025. Following an extensive search process, with the assistance of a leading independent search firm, the Board of Directors has named Christopher Young to succeed David as Vertex's President and Chief Executive Officer, at which point he will also be appointed to the Vertex Board. David will serve as non-executive Chairperson of the Vertex Board.

Christopher is a seasoned executive, investor, and board director with a distinguished track record of leadership over almost three decades in enterprise technology. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President, Business Development at Microsoft, reporting directly to its Chairman and CEO, responsible for assessing opportunities for growth while overseeing the Company's business development, venture investing, and corporate strategy groups. During his tenure, Christopher helped shape Microsoft's investment agenda in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, while also forging strategic transformative alliances. Prior to his time at Microsoft, Christopher served as CEO of the enterprise-focused cybersecurity firm McAfee, helping lead its spinoff from Intel in 2017 and spearhead its transition to the cloud. Previously, Christopher served as Senior Vice President for the Security business at Cisco Systems, where he transformed the strategic profile of its security business, growing the business into a recognized leader.

David has been a pillar of vision, execution, and dedication throughout his 26-year tenure at Vertex and instrumental in the Company's success. Under his leadership, Vertex successfully launched its initial public offering, expanded its cloud-based solutions, and undertook several strategic acquisitions to enhance its global capabilities. While at Vertex, the Company has furthered its position as a trusted provider of indirect tax solutions, consistently delivering strong, profitable revenue growth, including surpassing $600 million in annual recurring revenue in 2024, and driving strong value creation for shareholders.

"Underpinned by durable demand for our solutions and a clear runway for long-term growth, Vertex has an exceptionally strong foundation with a seasoned leadership team in place. The Company is well positioned for the next phase of its evolution, making now the right time to execute our succession plan and welcome Christopher as our new CEO," said David DeStefano, President, CEO and Chairperson. "I've been deeply invested in Vertex's growth and success for 26 years, through our IPO and the expansion of our partner ecosystem, and I couldn't be more proud of the way in which the Vertex team has enabled thousands of customers around the world to grow with our leading portfolio of products and solutions. What this team has accomplished over the last few years serving as a mission critical partner to our customers is inspiring, and I couldn't be more optimistic about our Company's future. Christopher is a proven leader with a strong track record of scaling businesses, and I am confident he is the best person to build on the momentum underway at Vertex."

"It is an honor to be selected to serve as Vertex's next CEO, and I could not be more excited to take on this new role," said Christopher Young. "Vertex has a solid product foundation, deep industry expertise, and a strong customer base. With the rapid rise of generative AI, we have an extraordinary opportunity to innovate on how tax and compliance are managed -- bringing together technology and human expertise to deliver even greater value and efficiency for customers globally. I look forward to working closely with the Board, the management team and all of our talented team members to extend Vertex's leadership position while delivering sustainable growth and shareholder value."

"David has made a positive and lasting impact on Vertex and our people. He has established Vertex as one of the world's most trusted brands, with a strong strategic and financial position and significant growth potential. On behalf of the entire Board, our employees, customers, and shareholders, I want to thank David for his remarkable service and his commitment to support a smooth transition. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his expertise and deep industry knowledge in the boardroom," said Ric Andersen, Lead Independent Director of the Vertex Board.

Andersen continued, "When David informed us of his decision to retire from Vertex, the Board undertook a thorough and thoughtful succession planning process. With the assistance of Spencer Stuart, we identified an outstanding executive in Christopher Young, and we are excited to welcome him to Vertex. With meaningful enterprise software experience and a proven track record, we are confident that Christopher is the right leader to usher in our next phase of growth as we continue to scale and capitalize on the compelling market opportunities ahead."

With the addition of Christopher, the Vertex Board will comprise nine directors, seven of whom are independent.

Preliminary Third Quarter Results

The Company today also reported preliminary third quarter 2025 financial results, including:

   -- Total revenue is expected to be approximately $192 million, compared to 
      $170.4 million for the same period in the prior year. 
 
   -- Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $43 million, compared to 
      $38.6 million for the same period in the prior year. 

About Christopher Young

Christopher is an accomplished enterprise technology executive with almost three decades of executive leadership across the technology industry. He most recently served as Executive Vice President, Business Development at Microsoft, where he led its business development, venture investing, and corporate strategy groups. Prior to his time with Microsoft, Christopher served as Chief Executive Officer of McAfee following its spinoff from Intel. He continued with McAfee following his tenure at Intel, where he served as Senior Vice President of Intel's security business, which was then McAfee, responsible for building and executing the security business's strategy and overseeing the segment's significant growth. Christopher also served as Senior Vice President for Cisco's security business, overseeing the growth of its security business and helping establish itself as a leader in the space. Earlier in his career, Christopher served as a Senior Vice President in VMware's end user computing segment and held roles of increasing responsibility in the security businesses of AOL and RSA Security, the security division of EMC. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Qualcomm and American Express, and previously served on the Boards of Snap and Rapid7.

Christopher holds a B.A. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc. is a leading global provider of indirect tax solutions. The Company's mission is to deliver the most trusted tax technology enabling global businesses to transact, comply and grow with confidence. Vertex provides solutions that can be tailored to specific industries for major lines of indirect tax, including sales and consumer use, value added and payroll. Headquartered in North America, and with offices in South America and Europe, Vertex empowers the world's leading brands to simplify the complexity of continuous compliance.

For more information, visit www.vertexinc.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements made in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements include, among other statements, information concerning our preliminary results of operations. Forward-looking statements are based on Vertex management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: our ability to attract new customers on a cost-effective basis and the extent to which existing customers renew and upgrade their subscriptions; our ability to sustain and expand revenues, maintain profitability, and to effectively manage our anticipated growth; our ability to identify acquisition targets and to successfully integrate and operate acquired businesses; our ability to maintain and expand our strategic relationships with third parties; the potential effects on our business from the existence of a global endemic or pandemic; and the other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC"), as may be subsequently updated by our other SEC filings. Copies of such filings may be obtained from the Company or the SEC.

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October 21, 2025 08:31 ET (12:31 GMT)