Jim Kimsey
Encyclopedia
James V. "Jim" Kimsey was the co-founder, CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

, and first chairman of internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

 America Online (AOL).

Early life

He grew up in Arlington, Virginia. After being dismissed from Gonzaga College High School
Gonzaga College High School
Gonzaga College High School is a Jesuit high school for boys located in Washington, D.C. The school is named in honor of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 16th century...

, he attended St. John's College High School
St. John's College High School
St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C., established in 1851, is the second oldest Catholic Christian Brother's school in the United States, and the oldest JROTC school. It was founded by Brother John of Mary, F.S.C., and two other Christian Brothers in St. Matthew's parish, 15th and G...

, followed by Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 for one term, and then the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 at West Point
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...

, from which he graduated in 1962. He served in the US Army, becoming a lieutenant and seeing active participation in U.S. interventions in the Dominican Republic
Operation Power Pack
The second United States occupation of the Dominican Republic began when the United States Marines Corps entered Santo Domingo on April 28, 1965. They were later joined by most of the United States Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its parent XVIIIth Airborne Corps...

 and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. In Vietnam, he made the acquaintance of future generals Wayne A. Downing
Wayne A. Downing
Wayne Allan Downing was a retired four-star United States Army general born in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962 and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane University.-Military career:*Sep 62 - Feb...

 (who also graduated West Point in 1962) and John Abizaid
John Abizaid
John Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...

.

Business

In 1970, after eight years in the military, Kimsey bought a building in downtown Washington D.C., renting out the top floor. On the ground floor he built and opened a bar known as The Exchange. He "became successful and opened other bars in the 1970s."

In May 1983, Kimsey became a manufacturing consultant for Control Video Corporation, which was near bankruptcy. He was brought in by his West Point friend Frank Caufield, an investor in the company. CVC was founded by William von Meister
William von Meister
William F. von Meister was an American entrepreneur who founded and participated in a number of startup ventures in the Washington, D.C., area...

 to market an online service called GameLine
Gameline
The CVC GameLine was a cartridge for the Atari 2600 which could download games using a telephone line.In the early 1980s a cable pioneer named William von Meister was looking for a way to use his innovative modem transmission technology, recently acquired in ill-fated attempts of sending music to...

 for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...

 video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

. Von Meister had previously hired Steve Case
Steve Case
Stephen McConnell "Steve" Case is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online . Since his retirement as chairman of AOL Time Warner in 2003, he has gone on to build a variety of new businesses through his investment...

 as a marketing consultant on the recommendation of his brother, investment banker Dan Case. Von Meister quietly left the company in early 1985. Shortly thereafter Control Video was reorganized as Quantum Computer Services, with co-founders Kimsey (CEO), Marc Seriff
Marc Seriff
Marc S. Seriff is best known as the CTO and co-founder America Online, along with Jim Kimsey and Steve Case....

 (CTO) and Steve Case. Kimsey served as CEO until 1995, when Steve Case took the helm.

Kimsey is a key investor in, and a director of private military contracting firm Triple Canopy, Inc.
Triple Canopy, Inc.
Triple Canopy, Inc., is a private company that provides integrated security, mission support and risk management services to corporate, government and non-profit clients. The firm was founded in May 2003 by U.S. Army Special Forces veterans, including former Delta Force personnel...


Miscellaneous

  • Kimsey resides in McLean, Virginia
    McLean, Virginia
    McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....

     and has three grown sons: Mike, Mark and Ray.

  • In 1995 Kimsey established the Kimsey Foundation.

  • In 2000, Kimsey purchased Marden House
    Marden House
    The Marden House is a residence in McLean, Virginia designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is located just off Chain Bridge Road and overlooks the Potomac River. Also known as "Fontinalis," it is named after Luis Marden , a writer, photographer, and explorer for National Geographic...

    , designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
    Frank Lloyd Wright
    Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

    , for $2.5 million.

  • In 2001, Kimsey was named Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP)
    International Commission on Missing Persons
    The International Commission on Missing Persons addresses the issue of persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, violations of human rights and natural disasters...

     in Bosnia.

  • In 2005, Kimsey met with Generals John Abizaid
    John Abizaid
    John Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...

     and Wayne Downing regarding the Iraq war.

  • On October 30, 2006, Kimsey was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
    John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
    The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...

     by President George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

    .

Quotes

  • "I told Wayne, 'I'm going to send all these guys [in charge] a copy of 'The Godfather.' . . . You've got to think like the Mafia thinks. No, it isn't going to be fair. You're going to whack 'em at home. You're going to do stuff to their families. You've got to play dirty. You've got to get in bed with dirty people. . . . Wayne knows how to think like that." - to General Downing, regarding stategies for dealing with al Qaeda.

  • "I went to Georgetown University
    Georgetown University
    Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

     for a year. It was on scholarship, and I had everything paid for, but I still couldn't afford to go there. I was by far the poorest kid at Georgetown."

  • "They would look at me and say, My God, how are you ever going to compete with IBM
    IBM
    International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

    ?"

External links

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