Scott McNealy

{{Infobox person

|name=Scott McNealy

|image=File:Scott McNealy 2005 (45227110).jpg

|caption=McNealy in 2005

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1954|11|13}}

|birth_place=Columbus, Indiana

|known_for=CEO and co-founder,
Sun Microsystems{{Triangulation|253|Scott McNeally}}

|spouse=Susan McNealy (m. 1994)

|children=Maverick, Colt, Dakota, Scout

|education={{ubl|Harvard University {{small|(BA)}}|Stanford University {{small|(MBA)}}}}

|website={{URL|1=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104071457/http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/executives/mcnealy/bio.jsp|2=Sun Microsystems Scott McNealy bio}}

|footnotes =

}}

Scott McNealy (born November 13, 1954) is an American businessman. He is most famous for co-founding the computer technology company Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Vinod Khosla, Bill Joy, and Andy Bechtolsheim. In 2004, while still at Sun, McNealy founded Curriki, a free online education service. In 2011, he co-founded Wayin, a social intelligence and visualization company based in Denver.{{cite news|last1=Clark|first1=Don|title=Scott McNealy Is Back - as a Startup CEO|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcnealy-sun-micros-ex-chairman-steps-up-to-run-startup-1432242869|access-date=22 May 2015|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=May 22, 2015|page=B1}} McNealy stepped down from his position as CEO of Wayin in 2016.

Career

McNealy earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Harvard and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. McNealy has self-deprecatingly referred to himself as a "golf major" rather than a computer scientist.{{Cite web |last=High |first=Peter |title=Former Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy's New Focus On Social Media Innovation |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2016/05/16/former-sun-microsystems-ceo-scott-mcnealys-new-focus-on-social-media-innovation/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

McNealy started out working at American Motors, where his father was vice chairman and vice president of marketing.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/like-father-like-sun/|title=Like father, like Sun|website=cnet.com|date=2006-03-06|access-date=2019-09-18|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812150506/https://www.cnet.com/news/like-father-like-sun/|archive-date=2018-08-12}} He later became manufacturing director at Onyx Systems, a vendor of microprocessor-based Unix systems."Scott McNealy and Sun Microsystems", Center for Management Research, Case Code LDEN039, 2006 [http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Leadership%20and%20Entrepreneurship/LDEN039.htm]

In 1982, he was approached by fellow Stanford alumnus Vinod Khosla to help provide the necessary organizational and business leadership for Sun Microsystems. Sun, along with companies such as Apple Inc., Silicon Graphics, 3Com, and Oracle Corporation, was part of a wave of successful startup companies in California's Silicon Valley during the early and mid-1980s. The name "Sun" was derived from co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim's original Stanford University Network (SUN) computer project, the SUN workstation.{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1997/10/13/232510/index.htm|title=Javaman: The Adventures of Scott McNealy Today's Episode His Fight to Save The World Wide Web From The Evil Empire|access-date=2008-03-17|author=Brent Schlender|date=October 13, 1997|work=Fortune Magazine|quote=They called their box the SUN – for Stanford University Network – workstation. The investor was intrigued; within a month, Sun Microsystems was born.}}

In 1984, McNealy took over the CEO role from Khosla, who ultimately would leave the company in 1985. On April 24, 2006, McNealy stepped down as CEO after serving in that position for 22 years, and turned the job over to Jonathan I. Schwartz. McNealy is one of the few CEOs of a major corporation to have had a tenure of over twenty years.

According to the book The Decline and Fall of Nokia, Scott McNealy was the "dream candidate" to become CEO of Nokia in 2010.{{cite book|last=Cord|first=David|title=The Decline and Fall of Nokia|date=2014|publisher=Schildts & Söderströms|isbn=978-951-52-3320-2|pages=190–192}} However, McNealy said he was not offered the job.{{cite web|last=McNealy|first=Scott|title=Not likely...|url=https://twitter.com/scottmcnealy/status/459080451328450560|publisher=Twitter|access-date=27 April 2014}}

In 2017, Scott joined the golf app startup 18Birdies as advisor and equity partner.{{cite news|date=2017-09-12|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikmatuszewski/2017/09/12/18birdies-welcomes-sun-microsystems-co-founder-mcnealy-as-advisor-equity-partner-for-golf-app/|author=Erik Matuszewski|title=18Birdies Welcomes Sun Microsystems Co-Founder McNealy As Advisor, Equity Partner For Golf App}}

In early 2018, he joined the Redis Labs advisory board.{{cite news|date=2018-01-09|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/technology-pioneer-scott-mcnealy-joins-redis-labs-advisory-board-300580136.html|title=Technology Pioneer Scott McNealy Joins Redis Labs Advisory Board|author=Redis Labs|work=PRNewswire}}

=Wayin=

In 2010, the same year Oracle Corporation purchased Sun, McNealy co-founded the social media intelligence company Wayin.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2016/05/16/former-sun-microsystems-ceo-scott-mcnealys-new-focus-on-social-media-innovation/#c33880649c9c|title=Former Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy's New Focus On Social Media Innovation|access-date=2017-12-04|author=Peter High|date=May 16, 2016|work=Forbes|quote=In 2010, he co-founded Wayin, a social intelligence company that integrates social content into new experiences for consumers and delivers greater value and control for brands.}} The new venture was not widely covered in the media; the day he invited reporters to his home to launch Wayin was the same day Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died.{{cite news|url=https://www.recode.net/2016/5/4/11634208/scott-mcnealy-is-stepping-down-from-the-ceo-job-you-didnt-know-he-had|title=Scott McNealy is stepping down from the CEO job you didn't know he had|access-date=2017-12-04|author=Ina Fried|date=May 4, 2016|work=Recode|quote=McNealy officially launched Wayin back in October 2011, inviting reporters to his house to talk about the service on the evening of Oct. 5 — which turned out to be the same day that Apple CEO Steve Jobs died.}} Their product is an application store for brands to self-publish interactive advertising campaigns using reusable digital assets, removing the bulk of cost involved in delivering multi-channel digital advertising.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2017/04/04/scott-mcnealy-builds-wayin-to-make-1-trillion-global-marketing-spend-more-efficient/|title=Scott McNealy Builds Wayin To Make $1 Trillion Global Marketing Spend More Efficient|access-date=2017-12-04|author=Bruce Rogers|date=April 4, 2017|work=Forbes|quote=The company positions itself as a self-service platform that enables some of the world’s biggest brands and publishers to create authentic, interactive campaign experiences that engage and activate consumers across all digital channels. Its digital asset creation tools offer drag and drop templates to easily create just about any marketing materials.}}

Wayin sought out and merged with EngageSciences in 2016, to acquire senior staff and diversify their market. In May of that year, McNealy stepped down as CEO and EngageSciences head Richard Jones became CEO of the combined company.

In July 2019, Wayin was acquired by Cheetah Digital.{{cite press release

|title=Cheetah Digital Announces Acquisition of Wayin

|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cheetah-digital-announces-acquisition-wayin-140000084.html

|publisher=Business Wire

|date=2019-07-10

|access-date=2019-07-10

}}

Personal life

McNealy was born to Marmalee{{Cite web |title=Scott Mcnealy {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/business-leaders/scott-mcnealy |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}{{Cite web |title=Glen Alferd Noffke - View Obituary & Service Information |url=https://www.cornwellcolonial.com/obituaries/Glen-Noffke/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Glen Alferd Noffke Obituary |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Raymond McNealy Obituary - Jupiter, FL |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/jupiter-fl/raymond-mcnealy-5980288 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Dignity Memorial |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |title=Raymond McNEALY Obituary (1927 - 2014) - Tequesta, FL - The Palm Beach Post |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/palmbeachpost/name/raymond-mcnealy-obituary?id=17133098 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Legacy.com}} Doris (née Noffke){{Cite web |title=Scott Mcnealy {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/business-leaders/scott-mcnealy |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}{{Cite web |title=William Noffke |url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/william_noffke |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.myheritage.com}}{{Cite web |title=Marmalee Noffke |url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/marmalee_noffke |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=www.myheritage.com}} and

Raymond William McNealy Jr. (1927–2014), in Columbus, Indiana. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where his father, was vice chairman of the American Motors Corporation. He graduated from Cranbrook School; he later supported the campaign of fellow Cranbrook alumnus and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Most of his work experience prior to joining Sun was in automotive manufacturing.

He is married to Susan Ingemanson. They lived in

Portola Valley, CA, now in Nevada, and have four sons: Maverick, Dakota, Colt, and Scout. He is known to be an enthusiastic ice hockey player and has been ranked as one of the best golfers in executive ranks.{{Cite journal|author=John Steinbreder|date=June 1998|title=Handicapping America's CEOs|journal=Golf Digest|quote=Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, once quipped: 'Am I a computer scientist? No, I'm a golf major.' A former captain of the Harvard golf team, he now plays to a 3.2 Handicap Index – lowest of any top executive.|doi=10.1159/000026045|volume=7|page=215|last2=Narayanan|first2=S.|last3=Murad|first3=M.A.|issue=3|doi-access=}}{{cite news |date=September 14, 2003 |title=On the Record: Scott McNealy |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/14/BU141353.DTL&type=business |access-date=11 June 2024 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle}}

He is the commissioner of the Alternative Golf Association (known as "Flogton").{{cite news|last=Glier|first=Ray|title=Turning Golf Tradition on Its Head|work=The New York Times|date=May 8, 2011|url=http://onpar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/turning-golf-tradition-on-its-head/?partner=rss&emc=rss|access-date=June 30, 2017}}

Positions at Sun

Chairman of the board of directors from April 2006 to January 2010{{cite web|title=DEF 14A (Proxy Statement)|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/709519/000119312509216203/ddef14a.htm|website=SEC EDGAR Archives|publisher=Sun Microsystems, Inc.|page=49|date=28 October 2009}}
Chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer from April 2004 to April 2006
Chairman of the board of directors, president and chief executive officer from July 2002 to April 2004
Chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer from April 1999 to June 2002
Chairman of the board of directors, president and chief executive officer from December 1984 to April 1999
President and chief operating officer from February 1984 to December 1984
Vice president of operations from February 1982 to February 1984

Awards

In 1987, McNealy was named an Award Recipient of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Northern California Region.{{cite web|title=InstallShield® Software Corporation Co-Founder And CEO Named National Finalist In Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year® Program|date=March 11, 2019|url=http://viresh.com/national-finalist-in-ernst-young/}}

Opinions

While at Sun, McNealy used the phrase “disagree and commit” (which later became a management principle adopted by other large cooperations) as early as some time between 1983 and 1991, as part of the line "Agree and commit, disagree and commit, or get out of the way".{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/highnoon00kare | url-access = registration | page = [https://archive.org/details/highnoon00kare/page/39 39] | quote = disagree and commit scott mcnealy. | title = High Noon: The Inside Story of Scott McNealy and the Rise of Sun Microsystems | first = Karen | last = Southwick | year = 1999 | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc.| isbn = 9780471297130 }}{{rp|39}}{{cite web | url = https://seekingmastery.wordpress.com/2017/05/29/make-disagree-and-commit-work-for-you/ | title = Make "Disagree and Commit" Work for You | website = Seeking Mastery | publisher = WordPress.com | first = Efesa | last = Origbo | date = May 29, 2017 | accessdate = July 2, 2017}}{{cite web | url = https://ecorner.stanford.edu/video/agree-and-commit-disagree-and-commit/ | title = Agree and Commit, Disagree and Commit | first = Greg | last = Ballard | date = November 15, 2006 | publisher = Stanford eCorner | quote = This is a phrase, agree and commit, disagree and commit, that actually comes from Scott McNealy. At least that's where I was told it was from. | access-date = June 17, 2019 | archive-date = June 17, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190617161141/https://ecorner.stanford.edu/video/agree-and-commit-disagree-and-commit/ | url-status = dead }}

In 1999, McNealy said, "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it."{{Cite magazine|last=Sprenger|first=Polly|title=Sun on Privacy: 'Get Over It'|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/1999/01/sun-on-privacy-get-over-it/|access-date=2021-11-24|issn=1059-1028}} Writer Stephen Manes criticized the statement in his Full Disclosure column: "He's right on the facts, wrong on the attitude.... Instead of 'getting over it', citizens need to demand clear rules on privacy, security, and confidentiality."{{Cite journal|last=Manes|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Manes|date=April 18, 2000|title=Private Lives? Not Ours!|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116035624/http://www.pcworld.com/article/16331/private_lives_not_ours.html|journal=PC World|volume=18|issue=6|page=312|issn=0737-8939|access-date=2009-05-27}} The authors of Privacy in the 21st Century admitted, "While a shocking statement, there is an element of truth in it."{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8j4fGlIrYsC|last1=Adams|first1=Helen R.|last2=Bocher|first2=Robert F.|last3=Gordon|first3=Carol A.|last4=Barry-Kessler|first4=Elizabeth|chapter=The Future of Privacy in Libraries|title=Privacy in the 21st Century|page=181|isbn=978-1-59158-209-0|publisher=Libraries Unlimited|year=2005}}

McNealy was an early advocate of the networked environment; his company's motto was The Network is the Computer. At times, he has been known to be skeptical of products that do not integrate well with networked environments. One example McNealy has given involved the Apple iPod. As quoted in The Register, McNealy said, "There’s a pendulum thing where stuff is on the client side and then goes back into the network where it belongs. The answering machine put voicemail by the desk, and then it went back into the network. Your iPod is like your home answering machine. I guarantee you it will be hard to sell an iPod five or seven years from now when every cell phone can access your entire music library wherever you are."{{cite web|last=Vance|first=Ashlee|author-link=Ashlee Vance|title=Sun and Apple almost merged three times – Bill Joy|publisher=The Register|date=January 12, 2006|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/12/sun_apple_snapple/}}

McNealy is a self-proclaimed "raging libertarian", although he often supports and endorses the Republican Party.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/ontherecord/article/On-the-Record-Scott-McNealy-2557428.php#page-2|title=On the Record: Scott McNealy|work=The San Francisco Chronicle|date=September 14, 2003|access-date=13 April 2017}} He makes regular appearances on the Fox Business Channel to discuss libertarian business issues.{{cite web|url=http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1904955463001/sun-microsystems-mcnealy-on-economy/|title=Sun Microsystems' McNealy on Economy|work=Fox Business|date=October 17, 2012 }} In 2017, McNealy praised the 45th U.S. President, Donald Trump, for his free-market economic policies.{{Cite news|url=http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/why-raging-capitalist-scott-mcnealy-is-excited-about-trump|title=Why 'Raging Capitalist' Scott McNealy is Excited About Trump|date=2017-01-26|work=Fox Business|access-date=2018-02-25|language=en-US}} On September 17, 2019, McNealy hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump's re-election campaign.{{cite web|last=Setty|first=Ganesh|title=Trump held fundraiser at former Sun CEO Scott McNealy's Silicon Valley house on Tuesday|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/17/trump-silicon-valley-fundraiser-at-scott-mcnealys-home.html|website=CNBC|access-date=18 September 2019|language=en|date=17 September 2019}}{{Cite web |last=Garofoli |first=Joe |date=2019-09-19 |title=Scott McNealy has long been one of Trump’s few friends in Silicon Valley |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Scott-McNealy-has-long-been-one-of-Trump-s-few-14447197.php |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en}}

References

External links

{{Twitter|ScottMcNealy}}
[http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/M-R/McNealy-Scott-G-1954.html Scott McNealy's biography] at the International Directory of Business Biographies
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110420215435/http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1120598654 Computer History Museum, 11-Jan-2006: Sun Founders Panel]
[https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740496 McNealy, Scott oral history] | 102740496 | Computer History Museum
{{IMDb name|id=0573829|name=Scott McNealy}}
{{C-SPAN|53832}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061024011241/http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/10/09/PM200610097.html Marketplace: "A different way of doing business", a radio interview with McNealy]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061213045609/http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome McNealy's foray into providing educational resources to school children worldwide]
[https://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2008-01-24-tiger-woods-ceos-golf_N.htm USA Today story about McNealy and other CEOs who have played golf with Tiger Woods]
[http://intruders.tv/en-tech/scott-mcneally-addresses-uk-entrepreneurs/ McNealy meets with a group of UK entrepreneurs] (2008 video)
[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/07/mcnealy_sun_and_open_source/ McNealy to Ellison: How to duck death by open source]