In a surprise move Charles Giancarlo, who was thought to be the next CEO of Cisco, has left the company to join Silver Lake, an investment firm that is focused on the technology sector. Giancarlo was thought to be John Chambers’ hand picked successor at Cisco. Chambers indicated that he has been trying to convince Giancarlo to stay for the last six months, so his departure may not have been as much of a shock to Cisco insiders.

According to sources, the fact that Chambers has said that he does not plan to step down for the next five years had to be a factor in Giancarlo’s decision to leave. Giancarlo perhaps felt that it time to try to something else due to the fact that the timing was just right for him to move on.

While Chambers is still in command at Cisco, Giancarlo is now the second potential CEO successor to leave the nest. Mike Volpi left in February to head up the start-up company, Joost. While some might think that Cisco has a potential leadership vacuum of potential successors, this certainly isn’t the case, as even Giancarlo agreed that Cisco has many other candidates waiting in the wings to fill this slot once Chambers does step down.

Read the full Press Release from Cisco by clicking here.