Diane B. Greene (born June 9, 1955) is an American
technology entrepreneur and executive. Greene started her career as a
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Occupations
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role ...
before transitioning to the tech industry, where she was a founder and CEO of
VMware
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.
VMware's desktop software ru ...
from 1998 until 2008. She was a board director of
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
and CEO of
Google Cloud Google Cloud Platform offers numerous integrated cloud-computing services, including compute, network, and storage.
Products
Past and present products under the Google Cloud platform include:
Current
* Google Cloud Datastore, a NoSQL databa ...
from 2015 until 2019.
She was also the co-founder and CEO of two startups, Bebop and VXtreme,
[Microsoft to Acquire VXtreme'](_blank)
/ref> which were acquired by Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
and Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
, for $380 million and $75 million.
Early life and education
Born in Annapolis, Maryland to an engineer and a teacher, Greene received a bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
in 1976 and a master's degree in Naval Architecture
Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and ...
from MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
in 1978.
In 1987, she attended and graduated with a master's degree in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, where she met her future husband and co-founder of VMware, Mendel Rosenblum.
Career
At age 19, Greene ran the first Windsurfing World Championship and won the national women's dinghy championship in 1976. Early in her career, Greene worked as a naval architect, where she designed ocean-going vessels and offshore structures. She also ran engineering for Windsurfing International. After getting her second master's degree in computer science, she transitioned to the tech industry and worked as an engineer and manager at Sybase, Tandem Computers
Tandem Computers, Inc. was the dominant manufacturer of fault-tolerant computer systems for ATM networks, banks, stock exchanges, telephone switching centers, and other similar commercial transaction processing applications requiring maximum up ...
, and Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and sof ...
. She also co-founded and was CEO of VXtreme, which was acquired by Microsoft and became the basis for Microsoft's movie player.
VMware
In 1998, Greene, Mendel Rosenblum, Scott Devine, Edward Wang and Edouard Bugnion founded VMware
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.
VMware's desktop software ru ...
. With Greene as CEO, VMware created the market for mainstream virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
and pioneered x86 virtualization
x86 virtualization is the use of hardware-assisted virtualization capabilities on an x86/x86-64 CPU.
In the late 1990s x86 virtualization was achieved by complex software techniques, necessary to compensate for the processor's lack of hardware-as ...
. They first introduced the technology on the desktop as a way to run multiple operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...
s side by side without requiring a reboot. They then introduced virtualization on the server as a way to simplify system management, increase server utilization, and save power. Today virtualization is the ubiquitous way to run servers.
In 2004, VMware was acquired by EMC Corporation
Dell EMC (EMC Corporation until 2016) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and Round Rock, Texas, United States. Dell EMC sells data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, clo ...
for $635 million, and Greene continued as CEO. VMware functioned as subsidiary, keeping its name, brand, and products and achieving a $2 billion run rate. In 2007, VMware went public to a $19.1 billion valuation, making it the largest tech IPO of 2007. On July 8, 2008, Greene was fired as president and CEO by the VMware board of directors and replaced by Paul Maritz
Paul Alistair Maritz (born March 16, 1955) is a computer scientist and software executive. He held positions at large companies including Microsoft and EMC Corporation. He currently serves as chairman of Pivotal Software.
Early life
Paul Marit ...
, a retired 14-year Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
veteran who was running the cloud computing business of VMware parent company EMC. Greene was asked to stay on and take a significant role in the company, but she declined.
Greene has spoken about her experience founding and scaling VMware at Stanford, at YCombinator's Startup School, on (Linkedin
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
co-founder) Reid Hoffman
Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman was the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily for prof ...
's "Masters of Scale" podcast series, and more.
Google
On January 12, 2012, Greene was appointed to the Google board of directors. Greene filled the 10th seat on Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
's board of directors, a seat that had previously been filled in October 2009 by Arthur D. Levinson.
In November 2015, Greene was named CEO of Google Cloud Google Cloud Platform offers numerous integrated cloud-computing services, including compute, network, and storage.
Products
Past and present products under the Google Cloud platform include:
Current
* Google Cloud Datastore, a NoSQL databa ...
following the acquisition of her startup, Bebop. As CEO of Google Cloud, Greene created Google's first enterprise-capable business unit. A few months after she stepped down as CEO of Google Cloud in January 2019, Google reported that the company's cloud unit had reached $8 billion in annualized revenue. Greene was succeeded as CEO of Google Cloud by former Oracle executive Thomas Kurian
Thomas Kurian is an Indian-American business executive and Chief Executive Officer of Google Cloud since 2019.
Early life
Thomas Kurian was born to P.C. Kurian and his wife Molly in 1966 in Pampady village of Kottayam district in Kerala, India. ...
. She retained a seat on the board of Alphabet.
Board Memberships
Greene has previously served as a board member of Alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
, Intuit
Intuit Inc. is an American business software company that specializes in financial software. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and the CEO is Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparation application ...
, Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also in ...
, and SAP
Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...
. She is currently a board member of Stripe, A.P. Moller - Maersk, and Wix.com
Wix.com Ltd. ( he, וויקס.קום) is an Israeli software company, publicly listed in the US, that provides cloud-based web development services. It allows users to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites through the use of online drag and ...
.
She also is a board member of MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
and is co-chair of the advisory board at the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
's College of Engineering
Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations tha ...
.
Awards
* In 2007, '' Fortune'' named Greene as one of America's 50 Most Powerful Women.
* Greene and Mendel Rosenblum received the IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...
Computer Society
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
's Computer Entrepreneur Award
The Computer Entrepreneur Award was created in 1982 by the IEEE Computer Society, for individuals with major technical or entrepreneurial contributions to the computer industry. The work must be public, and the award is not given until fifteen year ...
in 2011 for "creating a virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
platform" as founders of VMware
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.
VMware's desktop software ru ...
.
* Greene was a judge for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, also known as the QEPrize, is a global prize for engineering and innovation. The prize was launched in 2012 by a cross-party group consisting of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband, then Prime M ...
in 2013.
* In 2017, Greene was listed on Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
's 50 List of the world's most influential people.
* In 2017, Greene was recognized with Abie Award for Technical Leadership from the Anita Borg Institute as "one of the most iconic technology leaders of the last 20 years."
* In 2017, Greene received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
.
* In 2018, Greene was named one of America's Top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
.
* In 2018, Greene was elected a member of the US National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
for contributions in transforming virtualization from a concept to an industry.
Personal life
Greene met her husband, Mendel Rosenblum, while at Berkeley. The couple has two children together, a son and a daughter, and live in Stanford, California
Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University. The population was 21,150 at the 2020 census.
Stanford is an unincorporated area of ...
. Greene is also an expert crabber and sailor, having grown up doing both in Maryland.
See also
* VMware
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.
VMware's desktop software ru ...
* EMC Corporation
Dell EMC (EMC Corporation until 2016) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and Round Rock, Texas, United States. Dell EMC sells data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, clo ...
* Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
* Alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
* Intuit
Intuit Inc. is an American business software company that specializes in financial software. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and the CEO is Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparation application ...
* SAP
Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...
* Stripe
* A.P. Moller - Maersk
* Wix.com
Wix.com Ltd. ( he, וויקס.קום) is an Israeli software company, publicly listed in the US, that provides cloud-based web development services. It allows users to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites through the use of online drag and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Diane
UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
University of Vermont alumni
Living people
American women chief executives
American technology company founders
American women company founders
American company founders
American technology chief executives
American mechanical engineers
American corporate directors
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
Google employees
Women business executives
1955 births
21st-century American women