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Philippe Courtot

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Philippe F. Courtot
Born(1944-08-26)26 August 1944
France
Died5 June 2021(2021-06-05) (aged 76)
NationalityFrench, American
Occupation(s)Chairman and CEO of Qualys

Philippe Courtot (26 August 1944 – 5 June 2021)[1] was a French-American serial entrepreneur and business executive.[2] Courtot was the chairman and CEO of Qualys, Nasdaq: QLYS a cloud security company based in California.[3] He headed the sales of three companies and led two others to their initial public offerings.[4] Courtot was a five-time CEO who previously worked with companies such as Signio and Verity.[5] In 2012, Courtot launched the Trustworthy Internet Movement, an initiative to integrate security measures into the product-making process.[6] In 2014, Courtot was included on Business Insider's list of the Most Powerful Person In Tech at Every Age.[7]

Early life and education

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Philippe Courtot was born in France in 1944 during the end of the WWII German occupation. His mother, an immigrant from Spain, was a Spanish teacher, while his father was a lawyer. Courtot was raised Catholic and attended Jesuit schools in his youth.[8]

Courtot attended the University of Paris and earned a master's degree in Physics before immigrating to the United States in 1981.[9]

Career

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Courtot was previously the president and CEO of Thomson-CGR (Companie Générale de Radiologie) a Medical Corporation, which at the time was an affiliate of one of the world's largest medical-imaging companies.[10] In 1987, Courtot won the Benjamin Franklin Award for his efforts in creating a nationwide campaign advocating for awareness of the benefits of early detection of breast cancer through mammography.[10]

In 1988, Courtot joined a LAN-based email company called cc:Mail as president after reading an ad in the Wall Street Journal for the position.[11] In 1990, Microsoft offered to buy cc:Mail for $12 million.[12] Courtot turned down the offer and sold the company for $55 million in 1991 to Lotus.[4]

After selling cc:Mail, Courtot was later named president and CEO of Verity in 1993, an intellectual capital management and software company.[13][14] He led the company to its initial public offering in 1995 and then stepped down from his positions at Verity in 1997.[13]

Courtot was appointed chairman and CEO of Signio, an electronic payment company that Courtot re-positioned to be a large secure payment provider in the e-commerce industry in 1999.[15][16][17] In 2000, Courtot led the company through an acquisition by VeriSign, an internet security company that purchased Signio for $1.3 billion.[4][15][18]

Courtot had begun investing in Qualys, a cloud security company, back in 1999, but was named CEO in 2001 after he had left Signio.[5][19] In 2004, SC Magazine awarded Courtot the Editor's Award for his efforts in the network security industry and for founding CSO Interchange, a forum that allows users to share information in the security industry.[20][21] In 2011, SC Magazine named him as CEO of the Year at their European awards ceremony.[22] Courtot led Qualys to its initial public offering in 2012,[2][23] and remained CEO until March 2021, when he stepped down for health reasons.[24] He died a few months thereafter.[25]

Other activities

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Courtot volunteered with and served on the board of trustees for The Internet Society, an international non-profit organization.[26][27]

References

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  1. ^ Qualys Announces Passing of Former CEO and Industry Visionary Philippe Courtot
  2. ^ a b Eric Basu (28 September 2012). "Is Qualys overpriced at $400M+, or is it subject to "Facebook Syndrome"?". Forbes. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. ^ GRACE NASRI (9 May 2013). "8 SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS GIVE THEIR YOUNGER SELVES LESSONS THEY WISH THEY'D KNOWN THEN". FastCompany. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Julie Bort (25 February 2013). "Qualys CEO: I Chose Not To Be A Billionaire". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  5. ^ a b Eric Lai (30 October 2008). "Too old for tech? Not these Silicon Valley CEOs". Computer World. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  6. ^ Meghan Kelly (1 March 2012). "Qualys CEO creates security non-profit to fix the Internet". VentureBeat. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. ^ Borison, Rebecca; Kosoff, Maya (18 September 2014). "The Most Powerful Person In Tech At Every Age". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Serial Entrepreneur: Philippe Courtot (Part 1)". Sramanamitra. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Big Data: Big Threat or Big Opportunity for Security?". RSA Conference. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Philippe Courtot: Champion Of Mammography". Saturday Evening Post. Ipswich, MA. May 1987.
  11. ^ "Serial Entrepreneur: Philippe Courtot". Sramana Mitra. 5 February 207. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  12. ^ Perlroth, Nicole (17 November 2013). "Start-up Leaders Recall Choice to Cash in or Stay Independent". NY Times. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  13. ^ a b "International Directory of Company Histories- Verity Inc. History". Funding Universe. 2005. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  14. ^ "Verity Inc. Decides to Meet Its Destiny". Washington Technology. 13 July 1995. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b "The end is nigh". BQ Magazine. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  16. ^ Jim Martin (25 October 1999). "Signio Expands Internet Payment Processing to AS/400 Market". Enterprise Systems Journal. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Qualys Inc (QLYS.OQ)". Reuters. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  18. ^ Clint Boulton (20 December 1999). "VeriSign Secures Signio, Thawte Consulting". Internet News. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  19. ^ Steve Johnson (17 August 2013). "Qualys CEO Philippe Courtot talks cloud security". Mercury News. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  20. ^ "Management". Qualys. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  21. ^ Illena Armstrong (8 March 2013). "Sponsored video: Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys, at RSA Conference 2013". SC Magazine. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  22. ^ "Philippe Courtot". RSA Conference. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  23. ^ Julie Bort (28 June 2014). "Another 60+ Year-Old Tech CEO Changes His Mind And Won't Retire". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  24. ^ "Qualys Announces Resignation of CEO Philippe Courtot". www.qualys.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Qualys Announces Passing of Former CEO and Industry Visionary Philippe Courtot". www.qualys.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  26. ^ Julie Bort (7 March 2012). "This CEO Just Spent A Half Million Of His Own Money To Make The Internet Safer". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  27. ^ "Board of Directors". StopBadware. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
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