Ashraf Alkarmi, promoted from general manager, will serve as co-CEO before eventually becoming sole chief executive
Cheng Xin / Getty Images
Dropbox co-founder Drew Houston is transitioning out of the chief executive role he has held since founding the company, moving to executive chairman after an interim period sharing the co-CEO title with Ashraf Alkarmi, the company announced Tuesday.
Ashraf Alkarmi, who had served as general manager of Dropbox's core business, becomes co-CEO effective Tuesday alongside Houston. After a transition period, Houston is expected to take on the executive chairman role while Alkarmi becomes sole CEO, the company said.
Alkarmi's pay includes an $825,000 yearly salary, a target bonus equal to his base salary, and about $12.65 million in restricted stock units that will vest over several years, according to the filing.
Separately, the company said Michael Torres, currently vice president of product for Google $GOOGL's Chrome, will join Dropbox as chief product officer on July 7.
According to CNBC, Houston started Dropbox when he was 24, driven by his own irritation at misplacing USB sticks during his time studying at MIT; he is now 43. Under his leadership, Dropbox became a trailblazer in cloud storage and Houston was the first founder to bring a Y Combinator-incubated company through an initial public offering.
In an interview with CNBC, Houston indicated his next move will be entrepreneurial, with AI as the focus. He said the current moment is unmatched for anyone who wants to build new things, and joked that his post-Dropbox life would not involve racing sailboats.
Dropbox is now valued at just over $6 billion, which is less than the $10 billion valuation it had from private investors in 2014. The company passed $2 billion in yearly revenue in 2021, but growth has slowed, and sales dropped in 2025.
The company also said Tuesday that it expects second-quarter 2026 and full-year 2026 financial results to be in line with or above previously provided guidance ranges.
Houston credited Alkarmi's arrival from Vimeo in late 2024 with shifting the company's culture, saying the business had grown sharper in listening to customers and bolder in pursuing product innovation. "I trust the right leader," Houston told CNBC. "The company's in the right place."
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