Pavel Baudiš (born 15 May 1960) is a Czech

software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...

, entrepreneur and the co-founder of

Avast Avast Software s.r.o. is a Czech multinational cybersecurity software company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, that researches and develops computer security software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Avast had more th ...

along with Eduard Kučera. He became the largest

Gen Digital Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation and NortonLifeLock Inc.) is a multinational software company co-headquartered in both Prague, Czech Republic (European Union, EU) and Tempe, Arizona (United States, USA). The company provides comp ...

individual or non-institutional shareholder. As of 2024, he is the 8th wealthiest person in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, with a net worth of more than $2.3 billion according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''.

Biography

Born in Prague, he graduated in Information Technology from the Prague University of Chemical Technology. He then worked as a Graphics Specialist at the Mathematical Research Institute. He entered business began with his friend Eduard Kučera at the end of the communist regime in 1989, when he founded Alwil. In the early 1990s, the company was renamed Avast Software, based on its best known product,

Avast Antivirus Avast Antivirus is a family of cross-platform internet security applications developed by Gen Digital Inc. for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Avast offers free and paid products that provide computer security, browser security, an ...

. It soon faced intense competition, especially from Symantec, which used an aggressive pricing policy in a bid to lead the market. In response, Baudiš and Kucera took a radical defense strategy, offering its product for free. As a result, Avast ultimately emerged as the largest anti-virus firm in the world. In 2018, Avast was the largest tech IPO on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of $3.4 billion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudis, Pavel 1960 births Living people Czech company founders Czech business executives Czech billionaires Czech software engineers Gen Digital people