John W. Thompson

With more than four decades of experience in the technology industry, John has held various leadership positions in several organizations. In 2014, he succeeded Bill Gates as Chairman of Microsoft and served in that capacity until 2021. Currently, he serves as Lead Independent Director at Microsoft. Additionally, in 2018 he became a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Prior to this, he served as CEO and director of Virtual Instruments, and before that, he was Chairman and CEO of Symantec for ten years. During his tenure, he played a significant role in transforming the company into a leader in security, storage, and systems management solutions.

John began his career at IBM, where he worked for 28 years and held various leadership positions in sales, marketing, software development, and as general manager of IBM Americas.

John's holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Florida A&M University and a Master's degree in management science from MIT's Sloan School of Management. He also holds two honorary doctorate degrees, one from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business in 2008, and the other from Florida A&M University in 2014.