When Class Central covered the Coursera-Udemy merger completion, Hugo Sarrazin’s role was unclear. Not anymore. He’s joining Avalara, a tax and compliance company, as CEO.
Here’s the thing. Neither an SEC filing nor a public post announced the departure of the 14-month CEO, which led Udemy to its first profitable year and the $2.5 billion all-stock merger.
The Quiet Exit
The Coursera-Udemy merger was completed on May 11, 2026. Coursera even released a completion 8-K once it was done.
Sarrazin, who started working on the merger deal with Coursera less than a month into his role as CEO, and negotiated and closed it (after two failed attempts), appears nowhere in Coursera’s 8-K. The document has a section on ‘Director Resignations and Appointments’, and despite being on the Board of Directors (he was a Udemy Class III director), Sarrazin isn’t mentioned.
Udemy, which had announced his appointment on March 12 2025, did not have a press release for his departure. The company didn’t even mention it in its community news forum.
Neither party mentioned the exit on social media either. Hugo directly announced he’s joining Avalara as CEO.
The only mention of Hugo’s history at Udemy is in Avalara’s press release, which also mentions that Sarrazin will lead its global operations and strategy and join its Board of Directors.
He replaces Scott McFarlane, Avalara’s co-founder and CEO of 22 years, who moves into an advisory role.
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