Paul Alistair Maritz (born March 16, 1955) is a computer scientist and software executive. He held positions at Microsoft and EMC Corporation. In October 2021, Maritz was named as the chairman of the board of directors for Acronis. He also is chairman of Pivotal Software.

Paul Maritz
Paul Maritz in 2009
Born (1955-03-16) March 16, 1955 (age 69)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Natal
University of Cape Town
Occupation(s)Chairman, Pivotal Software
Employers

Early life

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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[3] and Hilton College.[4] 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.[citation needed]

Career

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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.[5] 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.[6]

Microsoft

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From 1986 to 2000, he worked at Microsoft and was on its executive committee. He became executive vice president of the Platforms Strategy and Developer Group and part of the 5-person executive management team.[7] 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.[8]

He was the highest-ranking executive to testify at the antitrust trial of Microsoft in 1999.[5] While at Microsoft, Maritz was credited with originating the term "eating your own dogfood" also known as dogfooding.[9][10]

In July 1999, he announced he would have a reduced role at Microsoft,[11] and resigned in September 2000 around the announcement of Windows ME.[12]

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."[13]

In October 2013, he was reported to again be under consideration to become chief executive of Microsoft, succeeding Ballmer.[14]

Pi Corporation

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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.[15][16] When Pi was acquired by EMC in February 2008, Maritz briefly became president and general manager of EMC Corporation's cloud computing division.[17]

VMware

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On July 8, 2008, he was appointed CEO of VMware[18] (a public company majority-owned by EMC), replacing co-founder and CEO Diane Greene. While CEO, company sales and profits tripled by mid-2012.[19] He was succeeded as CEO by Pat Gelsinger on September 1, 2012.[20]

GoPivotal

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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.[21]

After his resignation he announced that he would stay the CEO of Pivotal and mentor other companies in which he has invested. He also wants to work for Mifos, a financial services startup, that targets developing countries.[22]

Mifos

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Maritz is chairman of Mifos, an open source financial software platform.[23] For some time he was the only source of financial support for the initiative.[24]

Acronis

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In October 2021, Maritz was named as the chairman of the board of directors for Acronis.[25] Maritz is in charge of Acronis’ governance and leadership as the company enhances its position in the service provider industry and prepares for further expansion.[26]

Other activities

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Maritz was an angel investor in Apture.[27]

He is the chairman of the board of the Grameen Foundation, which provides microfinance support and sponsors third-world development projects.[28]

Maritz is interested in wildlife issues and helps developing countries to use technology to improve life.[28]

Recognition

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In 2010, Paul Maritz was named by CRN the number one Most Influential Executive of 2010.[29]

In 2011, Maritz won the Morgan Stanley Leadership Award for Global Commerce.[30] As well in 2011, the Silicon Valley Business Journal announced Paul Maritz as the Executive of the Year.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Greene, Jay; Grimaldi, James V. (17 January 1999). "Microsoft Trial - Low-Profile Exec In Hot Seat". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Cyber protection leader, Acronis, appoints technology veteran, Paul Maritz, as Chairman of the Board"
  3. ^ Staff Writer (24 April 2018). "Pivotal Software Listed On NYSE". TechnoMag. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Hilton College _ Old Boys" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b Steve Lohr (25 January 1999). "Paul Maritz: Microsoft's Star Antitrust Witness". New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  6. ^ Olavsrud, Thor (29 August 2012). "VMware CEO Paul Maritz Leaves Behind a Vision of IT Transformation". Network World. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  7. ^ Hardy, Quentin (7 February 2012). "One on One: Paul Maritz, VMware Chief Executive". Bits Blog. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  8. ^ Martin, James. "Top execs once at Microsoft: Where are they now? (pictures)". CNET. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  9. ^ Inside Out: Microsoft—In Our Own Words (ISBN 0446527394)
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Microsoft's Maritz to take lesser role". CNet news. 28 July 1999. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  12. ^ Sandeep Junnarkar; Mike Ricciuti (14 September 2000). "Microsoft Loses Another Key Executive". CNet news. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Paul Maritz to Retire After 14 Years at Microsoft". 13 September 2000.
  14. ^ Nick Wingfield (8 October 2013). "Gates's Future Fuels Speculation as Microsoft Seeks New Chief". New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  15. ^ "The Pi Team". PI Corporation executive bios. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  16. ^ Daniel Lyons (23 June 2006). "Computer Hardware & Software: Opening Up Windows". Forbes Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  17. ^ "EMC Acquisition of Pi Corporation, Developer of Personal Information Management Technology". Press Release. EMC Corporation. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  18. ^ Rohrer, J. Tyler. "Lessons Learned In The First Decade Of Building A Tech Company". Forbes. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  19. ^ Gara, Antoine. "The 15-Year Odyssey Behind VMware's Ascent To Corporate Greatness". Forbes. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  20. ^ "VMware Announces Change in Executive Leadership". VMware. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  21. ^ Quentin Hardy (24 April 2013). "Pivotal's Audacious Plan". New York Times Bits. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  22. ^ at 01:58, Simon Sharwood 19 Aug 2015. "Paul Maritz retires from Pivotal, says his time as a manager is over". www.theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Tech vet Paul Maritz joins BoldIQ board, sees new era of smart scheduling for on-demand economy". GeekWire. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  24. ^ "Paul Maritz". Mifos Initiative. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  25. ^ "Acronis announces technology veteran Paul Maritz as Chairman of the Board". techxmedia.com/. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  26. ^ "Acronis appoints new board chairman". ITEuropa. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  27. ^ "In-Text Media Links Service Apture Gets $4.1 Million Funding". www.cbsnews.com. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Paul Maritz, Marc Benioff, Andy Jassy | Point of Control: The Cloud". 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  29. ^ "The 25 Most Influential Executives Of 2010".
  30. ^ "2011 Morgan Stanley Leadership Award Winner". Computerworld. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  31. ^ Diana Samuels (30 December 2011). "Executive of the Year: VMware CEO Paul Maritz". Business Journal. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
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