There seems to be some mystery surrounding Don Hopkins‘ departure from NCR Corp., the $4.97 billion maker of ATMs and self-service kiosks where Hopkins was CIO. Kelly Kramer, an NCR spokesperson, confirmed for CIO via e-mail on April 8, 2008 that Hopkins “is leaving NCR,” but he did not explain why. Kramer did say that the company made no official announcement about Hopkins’ departure because Hopkins does not report to the CEO, Bill Nuti.A different spokesperson told the Dayton Business Journal on April 9 that “an exit date” for Hopkins had not been set and that the CIO was “leaving to pursue other opportunities.” Meanwhile, Hopkins’ LinkedIn profile says he retired from NCR on April 4. Hopkins did not respond to an inquiry from CIO about his departure from the company, where he’s worked since 1998. An anonymous source told CIO via e-mail on April 8 that friends who work for NCR say Hopkins resigned abruptly in early March 2008 and that the CIO’s sudden resignation “left people scrambling.”The tipster, who says s/he worked for Hopkins 10 years ago, says that NCR veterans are wondering whether the CIO’s departure is related to the company’s relocating its executives to New York City. They speculate that Hopkins didn’t want to move. Nuti, NCR’s CEO, is a New York resident himself, and in 2007 decided to move the company’s executive officers to Manhattan, according to reports in the Dayton Business Journal. This decision meant that the CEO had gotten out of his own relocation obligations: According to his original employment agreement, filed with the SEC on July 27, 2005, Nuti was supposed to move to the Dayton area by August 1, 2006. Failure to do so would be cause for termination. On July 26, 2006, NCR amended its employment agreement with Nuti and released him of the obligation to relocate, according to SEC filings. NCR Spokesman Kramer confirmed that the company will open office space in New York later in the year that will “house a customer demonstration center as well as offices for area sales personnel and some of our executives.” Kramer added that Bill Van Curen, who’s serving as interim CIO while NCR seeks a replacement for Hopkins, is based at the company’s headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. We’ll watch to see where NCR’s new CIO is based. If the office is in New York, at least the CIO will be close to the corner office (and we may get another clue about Hopkins’ exit). –With additional reporting from Stephanie Overby. Related content feature We’re all becoming software CIOs — a role Red Hat CIO Jim Palermo knows well As products become more based in software, CIO roles will increasingly align with CIOs who’ve been selling software for decades, like Jim Palermo, CIO of open source solution provider Red Hat. By Martha Heller Nov 15, 2023 7 mins CIO Software Deployment Marketing feature New US CIO appointments, November 2023 Congratulations to these 'movers and shakers' recently hired or promoted into a new chief information officer role. By Martha Heller Nov 08, 2023 9 mins CIO Careers IT Leadership interview How Huber spurs innovation in a historically decentralized business With IT/OT convergence, digital technologies, and the growing importance of data, Huber CIO Dwain Wilcox leads the creation of a cross-functional, cross-business innovation engine. By Martha Heller Aug 23, 2023 6 mins CIO Enterprise Cloud Management interview CIO Ryan Snyder on the benefits of interpreting data as a layer cake Thermo Fisher Scientific CIO Ryan Snyder discusses a tiered model used to turn data into value at the $40 billion laboratory equipment and instrument maker. By Martha Heller Aug 02, 2023 8 mins CIO Data Architecture Data Governance Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe