Gil Shwed

Gil Shwed
גיל שויד
Speaking at the 2021 World Economic Forum
Born1968 (age 57–58)
Jerusalem, Israel
OccupationsCo-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board, Check Point Software Technologies

Gil Shwed (Hebrew: גיל שויד; born 1968)[1][2] is an Israeli software engineer and entrepreneur.[3][4] He is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Check Point, one of Israel's largest technology companies and the world's largest pure-play cybersecurity company.[5][4] Shwed was CEO from 1994 until 2024, the longest tenure for a Nasdaq-listed company.[6]

He is considered the inventor of the modern computer firewall.

Early life

Shwed was born in Jerusalem.[7] He started programming at the age of 13, and two years later began studying computer sciences at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, while he was still in high-school.[4]

During his military service he was part of the Intelligence Corps' Unit 8200.[8] Afterwards, Shwed joined the Israeli startup company Optrotech (currently Orbotech), where he worked as a Software Developer.

Career

In 1993, Shwed founded Check Point with Shlomo Kramer, Shwed's friend from the military unit, and Marius Nacht with whom he worked at Optrotech.[4]

That year, Shwed invented and patented stateful inspection,[9] which was the basis for the first version of the company's renowned FireWall-1, released in 1994.[10] Stateful Inspection is still widely used in network firewalls today.[11]

1994 Shwed became the chief executive officer and director of Check Point. He previously was president of Check Point and chairman of the board.[12] As of 2018, Shwed is the leading shareholder in Checkpoint, owning 19.1% of the company, with an estimated worth of US$3.4 billion. The second largest shareholder in Check Point is US investment company Massachusetts Financial Services with a 7.7% stake worth $1.3 billion at present.[13]

Shwed and Check Point emphasize the "fifth generation" of cybersecurity, addressing the underlying issues behind such vulnerabilities as the WannaCry and NotPetya security breaches in 2017.[14][15] He has stated that enterprise businesses are "two generations behind" in their security thinking, and describes the industry as being at an "inflection point."[16]

As of January 27, 2024, Forbes listed Gil Shwed net worth at US$4.38 billion, ranking him 682 on the Billionaires list.[17]

In 2024, Shwed stepped down as CEO and became Executive Chairman of the Board.[18]

Boards

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Tel Aviv University and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Youth University of Tel Aviv University.[1] He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Yeholot Association founded by the Rashi Foundation whose charter is, among other things, to reduce dropout rates in high schools.[1]

Acknowledgments

He received an honorary doctorate from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in June 2005.[19]

Globes newspaper honored Shwed as their "Person of the Year" in 2014.[20]

In 2018, Shwed was the recipient of the first-ever Israel Prize in technology.[21][22][23]

Personal life

Shwed resides in Tel Aviv. He has children - 3 from his first wife, Hamutal Einhorn, and 3 from his current wife, Meytal Danino Shwed.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gil Shwed wins first-ever Israel Prize in high-tech". Globes. 4 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Check Point CEO to receive Israel Prize in Technology and Innovation - Israel News - Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post. ISSN 0792-822X.
  3. ↑ CIO. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "A Fortune In Firewalls". Forbes. 18 March 2002.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ↑ Morgan, Steve. "Meet the World's Largest Cybersecurity Companies". Forbes. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Gil Shwed stepping down as Check Point CEO after 30 years". ctech. 6 February 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "Cybersecurity mogul Gil Shwed wins first-ever Israel Prize for Technology". Israel Hayom. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "The Unit". Forbes. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  9. ↑ Paul Fisher (22 September 2009). SC Magazine interviews Gil Shwed, co-founder of Check Point. SC Magazine UK. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  10. ↑ Kessler, E. H.; Wong-Mingji, D. J. (2009). Cultural mythology and global leadership. ISBN 9781848447387. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "What is stateful inspection?". Searchnetworking.techtarget.com. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "Bloomberg Executive Profile". Bloomberg News.
  13. ↑ "Check Point to give Shwed options worth $144m". Globes. 19 July 2018.
  14. ↑ Arkin, Dan (30 January 2018). ""It's imperative to develop innovative, sixth-generation defenses": Check Point Founder and CEO Gil Shwed said at the opening plenary of Cybertech Tel Aviv 2018 that "fifth-generation cyber-attacks excel in identification theft, as well as in targeting cloud services and mobile systems"". Israel Defense.
  15. ↑ Murphy, Ian (25 January 2018). "Check Point warns of mega attacks". Enterprise Times.
  16. ↑ Panettieri, Joe (7 February 2018). "Check Point Software CEO Gil Shwed Addresses Fifth Generation Cyber Attacks". MSSP Alert.
  17. ↑ "Gil Shwed". Forbes. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  18. ↑ "Check Point names Nadav Zafrir next CEO". Globes. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  19. ↑ "March 2003". Pard.technion.ac.il. 27 March 2011. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  20. ↑ Dover, Shiri (7 December 2014). ""Globes" names Gil Shwed "Person of the Year"". Globes. Globes. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  21. ↑ Yefet, Nati (4 March 2018). "Gil Shwed wins first-ever Israel Prize in high-tech". Globes.
  22. ↑ "Cybersecurity Pioneer Gil Shwed to Receive First Israel Prize in Technology: Founder and CEO of Check Point Software Technologies has been awarded the first Israel Prize in the newly formed technology category". Haaretz. 5 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018.
  23. ↑ Orbach, Meir (3 April 2018). "Check Point Founder Gil Shwed First Israel Award Laureate in the Field of Technology and Innovation". CTech / Calcalist.
  24. ↑ Zohar, Amir. "התאומות של עו"ד מיטל דנינו וגיל שוויד". posta.co.il. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.