Founded by Stanford alumni, Sun Microsystems is a Fortune 250 company known for its innovative network technologies -- Java, Solaris and SPARC multiprocessors among countless others -- and its vision that the Network Is the Computer. With 3 million people joining the network each week, that vision becomes more true everyday. Join Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and president of Sun Microsystems, for a discussion about the importance of continued technology innovation and how the network is becoming more central to social and economic progress worldwide.
BIO
Jonathan Schwartz is chief executive officer and president of Sun Microsystems. He became Sun's CEO in 2006, succeeding the Company's co-founder and current chairman of the board of directors, Scott McNealy.
Schwartz was promoted to president and chief operating officer in 2004 and managed all operational functions at Sun - from product development and worldwide marketing, to global sales and manufacturing. An inveterate blogger, Schwartz has led Sun's drive toward transparency and openness in everything the organization stands for.
A leader behind many of Sun's open source and standard setting initiatives, from the open sourcing of Sun's flagship Solaris operating system and UltraSPARC microprocessor, to the Liberty Alliance, a cross industry effort to drive royalty free standards for secure network identity, Jonathan's been an outspoken advocate for the network as a utility with more than just value for the computing industry - but as a tool for economic, social and political progress.
From 2002 to 2004, Schwartz served as Sun's executive vice president for software and revolutionized the Company's software strategy with the introduction of Java Enterprise System and launch of the Java Desktop System. Prior to that he directed the company's long-range planning and corporate development activities, including mergers and acquisitions and Sun's venture capital portfolio, as the senior vice president of corporate strategy and planning.
Other positions Schwartz held at Sun include vice president, venture fund; vice president, developer products; vice president, enterprise software; and director, product marketing, Javasoft. He joined sun in 1996 after the Company acquired Lighthouse Design, where he was CEO and co-founder. Prior to that, Schwartz was with McKinsey & Co. in New York City.
Schwartz received degrees in economics and mathematics from Wesleyan University.