Jim Hagemann Snabe has requested to resign effective May 2014. Given shareholders' approval, he would then transition to the company's supervisory board, SAP announced in a statement on Sunday.

Snabe's resignation was for personal reasons, according to the statement, which added that the Danish-born manager's co-CEO, Bill McDermott, would likely become the only remaining top executive at SAP.

In 2010, Snabe and McDermott took over as SAP's leaders from longtime CEO Leo Apotheker. Just this month, Snabe praised the dual leadership, stressing that there was no need for a different makeup because changes could be introduced more speedily.

Noting that his personal life had suffered in recent years, Snabe told the German portal faz.net on Monday that this was the perfect moment to resign from the post and devote more time to his family.

Snabe also said that SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner had asked him to run for a post on the company's supervisory board at a shareholders' meeting in May, which he had agreed to do.

Snabe ruled out applying for a new leadership position at a different software maker, saying he would use the remaining 10 months at the firm to optimize SAP's position in the market.

In the official statement announcing the resignation, SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner described McDermott as a visionary leader in whose hands the company would be well-placed. 

uhe/mkg (Reuters, dpa, AFP)