HubSpot Brings Back Co-Founder Brian Halligan as CEO in a 'Refounding'; Adobe's Karen Burgess Named Next CFO

HUBS announced on November 12 that co-founder Brian Halligan has returned as chief executive, effective immediately, in what the company called a refounding. Yamini Rangan stepped down as president and CEO and resigned from the board, according to HubSpot's 8-K filing; she remains an employee through December 1 to help with the transition. Halligan, 59, ran HubSpot from 2005 to 2021 and was executive chairperson until May 2025. "This is a refounding, and I can't wait to start!" he said in the release.

The finance seat is changing too. CFO Kate Bueker will retire effective February 11, 2027 and stay on in an advisory role through the end of that year. Her successor, Karen Burgess, 49, is currently senior vice president and CFO of Adobe's Creativity and Productivity business unit and joins HubSpot on November 30 as CFO designate. The board shrinks from eleven to ten directors with Rangan's departure.

HubSpot reaffirmed the fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 guidance it gave with third-quarter results on November 4, so the numbers circulating Thursday are not new. That guidance calls for full-year non-GAAP EPS of $13.59 to $13.61 and revenue of $3.685 billion to $3.687 billion, with fourth-quarter non-GAAP EPS of $3.85 to $3.87. In the third quarter, revenue rose 17% to $947.6 million and non-GAAP EPS was $3.81, up from $2.66 a year earlier.

Investors welcomed the change. The stock opened at $202.60, had traded roughly 9% higher before the bell per Seeking Alpha, and stood at $217.23, up 7.1%, at about 1:35 pm ET, according to SentiSense data. The rebound comes after a steep slide: shares are still far below their 52-week high of $406.94. What to watch: how Halligan defines the refounding across product and go-to-market, and whether the leadership reset changes the outlook when HubSpot next reports.