Snowflake Founding Investor and Former CEO Sells Stake Worth Hundreds of Millions Amid AI Rally

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) reported product revenue of $1.33 billion and total revenue of $1.39 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2027—up 34% and 33% year-over-year (approximately KRW 1.9 trillion). Riding strong AI demand, the company raised its full-year product revenue guidance to $5.84 billion. Management pointed to a 126% net revenue retention rate, roughly $9 billion in remaining performance obligations, its AI offerings (Snowflake AI, Cortex Code, Snowflake Intelligence), expanded strategic alliances with AWS, OpenAI and SAP, and the planned acquisition of MCP-platform provider Natoma as key growth drivers.

Separately, early investor Michael L. Speiser sold about 66,000 shares in the open market around May 1—via direct holdings, a limited partnership and a family trust—raising roughly $9.3 million (about KRW 12 billion). On May 26, Chairman Frank Slootman exercised and sold 55,350 stock options, generating approximately $9.8 million (about KRW 13 billion). Both retain significant remaining stakes in the company.

Alongside its earnings release, Snowflake struck a multiyear infrastructure and co-sell agreement with AWS valued at a minimum of $6 billion (around KRW 8 trillion) and lifted its annual product revenue outlook. The shares surged more than 30% intraday on May 28. The May 27 Natoma deal further formalizes Snowflake’s plan to integrate an MCP-based platform—offering granular governance and identity management for AI agents accessing enterprise applications, databases and APIs—into its AI Data Cloud.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Snowflake is an AI data-cloud provider serving over 13,000 customers worldwide with a unified platform for data warehousing, analytics, applications and generative AI. Frank Slootman served as CEO until February 2024 and now chairs the board. Michael Speiser, managing director at Silicon Valley’s Sutter Hill Ventures, was Snowflake’s inaugural CEO and remains on the board, continuing to influence the company’s strategic direction.