Workday shed $40 billion in value. Founder Aneel Bhusri is back with a $139 million bet he can turn it around

By bringing cofounder Aneel Bhusri back to the CEO job, Workday has turned to a classic Silicon Valley tradition to deal with the AI threat squeezing software company stocks: the return of the founder.

Bhusri’s return to the top job at the human resources software company reflects the belief that only a founder with billions on the line and a personal legacy at stake has the unique vision and authority to steer the ship through difficult waters. And with majority voting control plus operational authority as CEO...