Peter Gassner
Peter P. Gassner | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 (age 58–59) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Oregon State University, 1989 |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Co-founder of Veeva |
| Title | CEO of Veeva |
Peter P. Gassner (born 1965) is the CEO and co-founder of Veeva, a company supporting processes in the pharmaceutical industry. With a net worth of US $5.25 billion, he is ranked 494th by Bloomberg on the list of billionaires worldwide.[1] He is a member of the board of directors of Zoom Video Communications.
Early life
Gassner grew up in Portland, Oregon, the son of Swiss immigrants. His father owned a machine shop. Peter is the third of six children.[2] When he was 8 years old, he worked as a paperboy. He later worked mowing lawns, in a restaurant, and then, in high school, he had a roofing business. In high school, he was also captain of the wrestling team. A math teacher recommended that he take a computer science class, which influenced his career.[3]
Gassner kept starting and stopping college, taking extended breaks in Hawaii, Australia, and Thailand, where he worked as a trekking guide.[4]
When he was 21 years old, he was robbed of all his belongings while hitchhiking through Malaysia.[4] He earned a degree in computer science from Oregon State University in 1989.[4]
Career
Gassner worked on DB2 for IBM's Silicon Valley Lab. He also worked for IBM Research at the Almaden Research Center with some of the inventors of relational database technology.[5]
Beginning at the age of 30, he worked for PeopleSoft for 9 years as both Chief Architect and General Manager of PeopleTools.[5]
He then worked for Salesforce.com as Senior Vice President of Technology.[4][3][5]
After 4 years of working at Salesforce, he saw an opportunity to offer software focused on life sciences built on Salesforce's platform.[6]
In 2007, along with Mitch Wallace, Doug Ostler, and Matt Wallach, he launched Veeva, a software firm that serves life sciences companies.[4][3]
Personal life
Gassner is married and has 2 sons.[3] He lives in Pleasanton, California. He speaks Thai language.
References
- ^ a b "Peter Gassner". Bloomberg.
- ^ "A Late Bloomer on Building a Legitimate Unicorn: Veeva Systems CEO Peter Gassner (Part 1)". Sramana Mitra. June 27, 2016.
- ^ a b c d Stahl, Nicole Zaro (August 21, 2012). "Veeva Systems CEO Peter Gassner Leads with a Steady Hand". Hacienda Business Park Owners Association.
- ^ a b c d e STETTNER, MOREY (June 29, 2019). "Veeva's Peter Gassner Combines Today's Execution With Tomorrow's Vision". Investor's Business Daily.
- ^ a b c "Peter Gassner". TechCrunch.
- ^ "Peter Gassner". Forbes.