Edward E. Iacobucci (September 26, 1953 – June 21, 2013) was an Argentine-American businessman who founded VirtualWorks and co–founded

Citrix Systems Citrix Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational cloud computing and virtualization technology company that provides server, application and desktop virtualization, networking, software as a service (SaaS), and cloud ...

. He is also known for his work as the architectural designer of the

OS/2 OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 r ...

and IBM DOS systems and as 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 ...

pioneer.

Biography

Early years and education

Edward "Ed" E. Iacobucci was born September 26, 1953, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

to Dr. Guillermo and Costantina Iacobucci. His father, a biochemist, moved his family to the U.S. in 1960 to work first for E.R. Squibb & Sons (a predecessor to pharmaceutical giant

Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...

), and then

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

. Roberto Goizueta, then Chairman of Coca-Cola, became a close friend of the Iacobucci family and, subsequently, Ed's godfather. Iacobucci graduated from

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

with a BSc in systems engineering in 1975.

Career

Iacobucci began his career at IBM in 1979 where he worked on the commercial software and personal computer business. While at IBM, Iacobucci held architecture and design leadership responsibilities for IBM DOS and

, and led the joint IBM-Microsoft design for multi-tasking personal computer operating systems. In 1989, Iacobucci left IBM to co-found

. He led the company as chairman and chief technology officer through its market and product development phases. Citrix grew and was named to both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indexes. In 1997, Iacobucci forged a five-year joint development agreement with

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, Washi ...

to include Citrix's multi-user capabilities within Microsoft Windows NT Server. He served as chairman of Citrix through 2000, when he retired. In 2002, Iacobucci co-founded and served as president and CEO of DayJet Corporation, an on-demand airline service that sold individual seats via a time sensitive pricing scale and utilized the

Eclipse 500 The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator. The prototype firs ...

very light jet A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets seating four to eight people. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot operati ...

. Dayjet built a computer system for solving highly complex optimization problems, and announced a five-year strategic agreement with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). After starting operations in 2007, DayJet ceased operations in 2008 when it was no longer able to secure its planned

growth capital Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new mar ...

. Between 2002 and 2007 he was a member of the

SCO Group The SCO Group (often referred to SCO and later called The TSG Group) was an American software company in existence from 2002 to 2012 that became known for owning Unix operating system assets that had belonged to the Santa Cruz Operation (the o ...

's board of directors. In 2011, Iacobucci founded VirtualWorks, which helps manage data. Iacobucci served as president and CEO until May 20, 2013, when he stepped down for personal health reasons.

Awards

In 1998, Iacobucci received the

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

"International Entrepreneur of the Year" award. Iacobucci sat on the engineering advisory board for

, his alma mater. He served as a technology judge at the state and national level for the Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year Awards", and he was active in the

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential lea ...

organization.

Death

He died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

on June 21, 2013 at his home in

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, U.S.

References

External links

Ed Iacobucci - Founder of Citrix
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iacobucci, Ed American airline chief executives American computer businesspeople American computer scientists Businesspeople in software Georgia Tech alumni IBM employees OS/2 people 1953 births 2013 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Florida People from Buenos Aires Argentine emigrants to the United States