Ben Horowitz
Encyclopedia
Ben Horowitz is a high technology entrepreneur and investor. He is best known for co-founding and running (as its President and Chief Executive Officer) the enterprise software company Opsware
. In July 2007, Horowitz sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard
for $1.6 billion in cash. In June 2009, Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen
co-founded the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park, CA.
, and Insik Rhee. Loudcloud offered infrastructure and application hosting services to enterprise and Internet customers such as Ford Motor Company
, Nike, Inc.
, Gannett Company
, News Corporation
, the United States Army
and other large organizations. Horowitz took Loudcloud public on March 9, 2001.
In June 2002, Horowitz began a dramatic transformation of Loudcloud into Opsware
, an enterprise software company. He took the first step by selling Loudcloud's core managed services business to Electronic Data Systems
for $63.5 million in cash. This transaction transferred 100% of Loudcloud's revenue to EDS while the company was publicly traded on NASDAQ. Beginning with EDS as its first enterprise software customer, Horowitz grew Opsware to hundreds of enterprise customers, over $100 million in annual revenue, and 550 employees. In July 2007, Horowitz sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard
for $1.6 billion in cash.
Horowitz was Loudcloud’s and Opsware’s President and Chief Executive Officer for the entire history of the company. Along the way, shares of Opsware rose from $0.35 per share (at its nadir) to $14.25 a share (at the time of its sale to HP).
Following the sale of Opsware to Hewlett-Packard, Horowitz then spent one year at Hewlett-Packard as Vice President and General Manager in HP Software with responsibility for 3,000 employees and $2.8 billion in annual revenue.
to increase their ability to invest in and advise high technology companies.
After UCLA, he began his career as an engineer at Silicon Graphics in the early 1990s. In 1995, Horowitz joined Marc Andreessen at Netscape as one of Netscape’s first product managers. He was rapidly promoted to Vice President and General Manager and was responsible for much of the Netscape Server product line, including 300+ people and $100M+ in revenue. After Netscape was acquired by AOL in 1998, Horowitz served as Vice President of AOL’s eCommerce Division.
Opsware
Opsware, Inc. was a software company based in Sunnyvale, California that offered products for server and network device provisioning, configuration, and management targeted toward enterprise customers...
. In July 2007, Horowitz sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
for $1.6 billion in cash. In June 2009, Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, investor, software engineer, and multi-millionaire best known as co-author of Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. He founded and later sold the software company Opsware to Hewlett-Packard...
co-founded the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park, CA.
Loudcloud and Opsware
In September 1999, Horowitz cofounded Loudcloud with Marc Andreessen, Tim HowesTim Howes
Tim Howes is the co-inventor of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol , the Internet standard for accessing directory servers. The main purpose was to handle situations that the X.500 protocol suite could not address....
, and Insik Rhee. Loudcloud offered infrastructure and application hosting services to enterprise and Internet customers such as Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Gannett Company
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
, the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and other large organizations. Horowitz took Loudcloud public on March 9, 2001.
In June 2002, Horowitz began a dramatic transformation of Loudcloud into Opsware
Opsware
Opsware, Inc. was a software company based in Sunnyvale, California that offered products for server and network device provisioning, configuration, and management targeted toward enterprise customers...
, an enterprise software company. He took the first step by selling Loudcloud's core managed services business to Electronic Data Systems
Electronic Data Systems
HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,...
for $63.5 million in cash. This transaction transferred 100% of Loudcloud's revenue to EDS while the company was publicly traded on NASDAQ. Beginning with EDS as its first enterprise software customer, Horowitz grew Opsware to hundreds of enterprise customers, over $100 million in annual revenue, and 550 employees. In July 2007, Horowitz sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
for $1.6 billion in cash.
Horowitz was Loudcloud’s and Opsware’s President and Chief Executive Officer for the entire history of the company. Along the way, shares of Opsware rose from $0.35 per share (at its nadir) to $14.25 a share (at the time of its sale to HP).
Following the sale of Opsware to Hewlett-Packard, Horowitz then spent one year at Hewlett-Packard as Vice President and General Manager in HP Software with responsibility for 3,000 employees and $2.8 billion in annual revenue.
Andreessen Horowitz
Between 2005 and 2009, Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen separately and together made a series of 40 angel investments in early stage technology companies primarily in Silicon Valley. In June 2009, Ben and Marc created the venture capital firm named Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The company's headquarters is in Menlo Park, California.The venture capital fund was started in June 2009 with an initial capital of $300 million....
to increase their ability to invest in and advise high technology companies.
Education and early career
Horowitz earned a BA in Computer Science from Columbia University and an MS in Computer Science from UCLA.After UCLA, he began his career as an engineer at Silicon Graphics in the early 1990s. In 1995, Horowitz joined Marc Andreessen at Netscape as one of Netscape’s first product managers. He was rapidly promoted to Vice President and General Manager and was responsible for much of the Netscape Server product line, including 300+ people and $100M+ in revenue. After Netscape was acquired by AOL in 1998, Horowitz served as Vice President of AOL’s eCommerce Division.
External links
- Ben's Blog
- Ben Horowitz's profile on LinkedIn
- Ben Horowitz's profile on Crunchbase (note, information is only up-to-date through Ben's tenure at HP Software)
- Crunchbase profile on Andreessen Horowitz
- Marc Andreessen's blog entry announcing the formation of Andreessen Horowitz
- Andreessen Horowitz Website