GRADUATING FROM K12: Ron Packard, CEO and founder of K12 Inc., will be leaving the online school provider after 14 years. But he won't be straying too far. Packard will serve as CEO for a new education company that will be co-led by Safanad Limited, a global investment group, and K12 Inc. Safanad will own a majority stake; K12 gets "a smaller stake of over 25%."
According to the press release, the currently-unnamed venture will "focus on the expansion and integration of technology-based learning programs in pre-K through college across the globe through the management and expansion of several existing early stage businesses and targeted investments within the education services sector." This suggests the new company will take a decidedly international focus, especially as K12 Inc. will "contribute" a number of its existing overseas school operations to the new venture.
Packard will remain on K12 Inc.'s Board of Directors. The company also announced it will add two new Executive VPs: Tim McEwen, who was most recently CEO of Archipelago Learning (acquired by PLATO in 2012), and Chuck Sullivan, who was the Founder and Principal at CCS Advisory Services LLC.
