Scott McNealy

Scott McNealy is the founder and CEO of Sun Microsystems Inc., the world's largest network computing firm. Sun's Java programming language and network servers account for most of its $14 billion in annual sales. Known for his declaration in the late 1980s that "the network is the computer," McNealy is considered one of the world's most important figures in the development of technology as a whole, as well as in the rise of e-commerce.

After earning his undergraduate degree in economics at Harvard University, McNealy began working on his MBA at Stanford University. In 1982, shortly after his graduate work was completed, McNealy joined forces with Stanford graduate student Andreas Bechtolsheim, and Vinod Khosla to found Sun Microsystems Inc. CAD systems supplier Computer Vision contracted Sun to build a new operating system for its software applications in 1983. McNealy took over as president and CEO in 1984, after Khosla left the fledgling firm. McNealy took Sun public in 1986. By the end of the following year, Sun had emerged as the top U.S. workstation manufacturer. Sales exceeded $1 billion in 1988, and Sun began working with AT&T Corp. to upgrade the UNIX operating system.

Earnings dipped in 1989 as McNealy struggled to manage his firm's explosive growth. To bolster profits, he put in place a plan to develop the Sun OS operating system, a version of UNIX able to run on a wide variety of computers, including those with Intel microprocessors. McNealy also oversaw international expansion into Moscow in 1992 and the development of an enhanced customer support program in 1993. The following year, he refocused Sun on developing Internet access and security tools, including encryption devices, searching applications, and online telephone directories.

In 1995, the Internet revolution began in earnest. As a result, Sun's sales jumped to nearly $6 billion. McNealy made sure his firm was involved in as many aspects of Internet technology as possible. Sun developed Java, an object oriented programming language for the Internet, and McNealy convinced Microsoft Corp. to begin licensing it that year. Sales jumped another 21 percent in 1997. The following year, Sun usurped Hewlett-Packard as the top manufacturer of Unix servers in the United States. It also strengthened its foothold in the Internet software industry by acquiring NetDynamics, a World Wide Web application software maker.

Sales continued to climb, reaching $15.7 billion in 2000. Earnings grew to $1.9 billion. According to a May 2001 article in Fortune, McNealy "rode the Internet craze for all it was worth. Whether it was e-commerce firms, telecommunications service providers, or traditional companies, if there was a Web application to run, the odds were that a Sun computer was running it." However, growth slowed dramatically for Sun when dot-com firms began declaring bankruptcy and information technology spending slowed in the fall of 2000. Fortunately for Sun, McNealy recognized the impending economic downturn and immediately launched modest cost cutting efforts that included curbing travel expenses, reducing the number of new hires, and suspending work on new facilities. As a result, the firm was able to survive the first half of 2001 without laying off employees, a fact which set it apart from competitors like Cisco Systems, which cut roughly 8,500 positions. In 2001, BusinessWeek Online named McNealy as a member of the "e.biz 25," a listing of the 25 individuals most influential in the development of e-commerce early in the twenty-first century.