American data center specialist Digital Realty has appointed its interim CEO William Stein as the permanent head of the company.

“Bill meets all the criteria we looked for in a new CEO, bringing a deep understanding of data centers, real estate and the broader technology landscape based on his 30 years of financial, investment and operational experience,” commented chairman of the board Dennis Singleton.

“His leadership capabilities are clearly evidenced by the improvement in return on invested capital since he took the helm as interim CEO in March 2014.”

A permanent position
Digital Realty operates a network of more than 140 data centers across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company started the search for the next CEO after its co-founder and long-term leader Michael Foust stepped down, for reasons that were never made public.

Stein was hired by Digital Realty before the IPO in 2004, and spent a decade as its CFO and Chief Investment Officer, before trying his hand as the Chief Executive.

“In my time as interim CEO, Digital Realty has made significant progress towards strengthening our business and building upon our extensive global portfolio of data centers, and I am grateful for the individual and collective contributions of everyone here at the company,” said Stein.

“We will continue to focus on growing our portfolio with the highest quality properties while culling under-performing assets, and will strive to improve operational efficiencies and strategically expand our global footprint.”

Earlier this year, the company announced it would be conducting a “rigorous” evaluation of its entire portfolio, expecting to remove 5 to 10 percent of the data center properties.

Stein will eventually step down as the CFO, which means Digital Realty needs to find someone else to balance its books.