Robert Smith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vista Equity Partners
Robert F.
Smith is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners.
Vista currently has over $96 billion in assets under management and oversees a
portfolio of over 80 enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled
companies that have more than 400 million users and employ over 100,000 people
worldwide. Smith serves on
the Board of Directors for the Business Roundtable, the Board of Overseers
of Columbia Business School, and as a Member of the Cornell
Engineering College Council, where Smith’s leadership was honored by
naming the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering. Smith is also a Founding Member of the World Economic
Forum EDISON Alliance, a cross-sector initiative to accelerate digital
inclusion and eliminate connectivity deserts. He is Chairman of
Carnegie Hall, former Chair of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human
Rights and a Founding Partner of the REFORM Alliance, focused on criminal
justice reform. Smith is the
Founding Director and President of the Fund II Foundation, which is
dedicated to preserving the African American experience, human rights,
environmental conservation, and a broad range of initiatives. In 2017, Smith
signed the Giving Pledge, the first African American to do so. In 2019, Smith
announced he would cover the student loans of nearly 400 Morehouse College
graduates in a commencement address. After his Morehouse pledge, Smith
founded the Student Freedom Initiative to help relieve student debt
for STEM students at all HBCUs, and personally committed $50 million, along
with Fund II Foundation’s commitment of an additional $50
million. Smith is a strong
advocate for the 2% Solution – calling on corporations to commit
2% of their annual net income to empower minority communities. He also leads
the Southern Communities Initiative with Rich Lesser (Boston
Consulting Group) and Dan Schulman (PayPal), to advance racial equity in six
Southern communities that are home to half of all Black people in America.
Smith’s business
achievements and global philanthropic works have been recognized by numerous
entities. Among them, Smith was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, and
was named as one of Forbes’ 100 Greatest Living Business Minds and a TIME 100
Most Influential People in the World in 2020. |