Paul Maritz

Paul Maritz

Paul Maritz in 2009
Born 1955 (age 6061)
Employer

Paul Maritz (born 1955) is a computer scientist and software executive. He held positions at large companies including Microsoft and EMC Corporation.

Life

Paul Maritz was born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). His family later moved to South Africa where he was schooled at Highbury Preparatory School and Hilton College. He received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Natal, and a B.Sc. (Hons) degree, also in Computer Science, from the University of Cape Town in 1977.[1]

After finishing his graduate studies, Maritz had a programming job with Burroughs Corporation and later became a researcher at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, before moving to Silicon Valley in 1981 to join Intel.[2] He worked for Intel for five years, including developing early tools to help developers write software for the then-new x86 platform, before joining Microsoft in 1986.

From 1986 to 2000 he worked at Microsoft, becoming executive vice president of the Platforms Strategy and Developer Group and part of the 5-person executive management team. He was often said to be the third-ranking executive, behind Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. He was responsible for essentially all of Microsoft's desktop and server software, including such major initiatives as the development of Windows 95, Windows NT, and Internet Explorer. He was the highest-ranking executive to testify at the antitrust trial of Microsoft in 1999.[2] While at Microsoft, Maritz was credited with originating the term "eating your own dogfood" also known as dogfooding.[3][4]

In July 1999 he announced he would have a reduced role at Microsoft,[5] and resigned in September 2000 around the announcement of Windows ME.[6]

According to Steve Ballmer Maritz was "truly a leader among leaders". Bill Gates stated that "Paul's vision and technological insight has had a major impact not only on Microsoft but on the entire computer industry."[7]

He then co-founded, and was CEO of Pi Corporation, a company backed by Warburg Pincus, which developed software for Linux with development in Bangalore, India.[8][9] When Pi was acquired by EMC in February 2008, Maritz briefly became president and general manager of EMC Corporation's cloud computing division.[10] On July 8, 2008 he was appointed CEO of VMware (a public company majority-owned by EMC), replacing co-founder and CEO Diane Greene. He was succeeded as CEO by Pat Gelsinger on September 1, 2012.[11]

In April 2013 he was announced as the CEO of GoPivotal, Inc. (Pivotal), a venture funded by General Electric (GE), EMC and VMware which he led until August 2015.[12]

In October 2013 he was reported to again be under consideration to become chief executive of Microsoft, succeeding Ballmer.[13]

He was an angel investor in Apture. He sponsors third-world development projects and is the chairman of the board of the Grameen Foundation.

Recognition

In 2010 Paul Maritz was named by CRN Magazine the number one Most Influential Executive of 2010.[14]

In 2011 Maritz won the Morgan Stanley Leadership Award for Global Commerce.[15] As well in 2011, the Silicon Valley Business Journal announced Paul Maritz as the Executive of the Year.[16]

References

  1. , crunchbase.com
  2. 1 2 Steve Lohr (January 25, 1999). "Paul Maritz: Microsoft's Star Antitrust Witness". New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  3. Inside Out: Microsoft—In Our Own Words (ISBN 0446527394)
  4. Brodkin, John (4 September 2009). "VMworld 2009: Virtualization, controversy and eating your own dog food". Network World. Retrieved 17 May 2010. Quote: "[Paul] Maritz also poked fun at himself by claiming that one of his only contributions to the IT world is coining the commonly used "eat your own dog food" phrase.
  5. "Microsoft's Maritz to take lesser role". CNet news. July 28, 1999. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  6. Sandeep Junnarkar and Mike Ricciuti (September 14, 2000). "Microsoft Loses Another Key Executive". CNet news. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  7. "Paul Maritz to Retire After 14 Years at Microsoft". September 13, 2000.
  8. "The Pi Team". PI Corporation executive bios. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  9. Daniel Lyons (June 23, 2006). "Computer Hardware & Software: Opening Up Windows". Forbes Magazine. Archived from the original on July 18, 2006. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  10. "EMC Acquisition of Pi Corporation, Developer of Personal Information Management Technology". Press Release. EMC Corporation. February 21, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  11. "VMware Announces Change in Executive Leadership". VMware. 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  12. Quentin Hardy (April 24, 2013). "Pivotal's Audacious Plan". New York Times Bits. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  13. Nick Wingfield (October 8, 2013). "Gates's Future Fuels Speculation as Microsoft Seeks New Chief". New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  14. "The 25 Most Influential Executives Of 2010".
  15. "2011 Morgan Stanley Leadership Award Winner". Computerworld. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  16. Diana Samuels (December 30, 2011). "Executive of the Year: VMware CEO Paul Maritz". Business Journal. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
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