Omid R. Kordestani[5] (Persian: امید کردستانی‎) is an Iranian-American businessman who works as Chief Business Officer at Google. He was previously senior advisor at Google's Office of the CEO and Founders.[6] and serves as Non-Executive Director at Vodafone.[7] Kordestani was the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations of Google until he stepped down on April 16, 2009.[8]

Early life

Omid Kordestani was born in Tehran, Iran[9][10][11][12][12][2] and grew up there attending Andisheh Don Bosco School, an Italian Catholic school in Tehran that emphasised education and language skills.[13] He moved to San Jose, California at the age of 14 after the death of his father.

Education

He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from San Jose State University and went to work for Hewlett Packard as an engineer. Several years later in order to pursue a business degree, he entered Stanford Business School and earned his MBA in 1991.

Career

Kordestani has more than a dozen years of high-technology consumer and enterprise experience, including key positions at Internet pioneer Netscape Communications. He was also vice president of Business Development and Sales and grew Netscape's website revenue from an annual run-rate of $88 million to more than $200 million in 18 months. He started his career at Netscape as director of OEM Sales, and during his four-year career at that company he was responsible for establishing major customer relationships with Citibank, AOL, Amazon, Intuit, Travelocity, Intel, @Home, eBay, and Excite. Prior to Netscape, Kordestani held positions in marketing, product management, and business development at The 3DO Company, Go Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard. He joined Google in May 1999, leading the development and implementation of the company’s initial business model and was Google's senior vice president of worldwide sales and field operations until April 16, 2009. Kordestani played a part in Google's worldwide revenue generation efforts as well as the day-to-day operations of the company’s sales organization. In the May 8, 2006 issue of Time Magazine, Kordestani was named one of Time's "100 People who shape our world".[14] Kordestani is one of the wealthiest residents in Northern California. San Jose magazine estimates his net worth at $1.9 billion.[citation needed]

He was selected as The Persian Person of the Year in 2007 by Persian Awards.[15]

Kordestani is one of the founders of PARSA Community Foundation, a Persian heritage, entrepreneurship and philanthropic society.

See also

References

  1. ^ California
  2. ^ a b Bob Cooper (2007-07-15). "OUT OF IRAN / Five extraordinary Iranian Americans love both countries but loathe their leaders' war talk". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
  3. ^ "Unfinished mansion near Google exec sold". SFGate.com. February 14, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Omid Kordestani Net Worth". Business Insider. 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2011-05-20. 
  5. ^ http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/alumni_community/alumni_leaders.html
  6. ^ "Corporate Information - Google Management". Google.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
  7. ^ "Vodafone Group plc : Vodafone Appoints Omid Kordestani as a Non-Executive Director". 4-traders.com. Retrieved 2013-02-28. 
  8. ^ Hof, Rob. "LIVE: Google's First-Quarter Earnings: Revenues Down, Profits Beat Forecasts, Investors Yawn". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
  9. ^ Alumni Profiles: Omid Kordestani: Google Inc. Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development
  10. ^ Committee on Institutional Advancement: Approval of Meeting Minutes of March 11, 2008
  11. ^ "San Francisco Luxury Living » Omid Kordestani’s $33 Million Year". Sfluxe.com. 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
  12. ^ a b http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/media/pdf/news/newsletter/coe_newsletter_summer_08.pdf
  13. ^ [1][dead link]
  14. ^ Deutsch, Donny (2006-04-30). "Omid Kordestani". TIME. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 
  15. ^ "In The Spotlight: International Awards and the Accomplished Iranians Who Have Earned Them". Payvand.com. 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2009-12-18. 

External links