David Duffield’s Milestones in IT

The information technology (IT) industry gave many people opportunities to reach the pinnacle of success. Some of the richest and most highly-regarded entrepreneurs attained wealth through their innovations in this forward-thinking business. One of them is David Duffield, PeopleSoft co-founder and former chairman.

Duffield entered the IT industry when innovation and competition were in full swing. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering and a Master’s degree in business administration. After completing his higher studies, he worked at IBM. Capitalizing on his skills and experiences, Duffield quit his job to form his first company, Information Associates. He made a business producing systems for higher learning. He also formed another company before proceeding to create PeopleSoft in 1987.

As the backbone of the company, Duffield used his visions to make things happen. Eventually his co-founder stepped away from PeopleSoft, leaving him to fulfill the responsibilities they were supposed to share. He assumed the position of CEO a couple of times before settling as chairman. His leadership made PeopleSoft the second-largest software company in the United States before it was sold to Oracle in January 2005. He later admitted that the ten billion dollar hostile takeover took a toll on him as well as his colleagues in the company.

However, losing PeopleSoft did not lead Duffield to lose his vision. He bounced back to business in 2007, challenging industry giants Oracle and SAP AG with Workday, producer of on-demand software that allows customers to manage business tasks via the Internet. His fifth startup also faced the challenges posed by the brutally competitive and crowded marketplace, but he managed to persuade even the most risk-averse corporations to take their chances with him.

With quite a number of feathers in his hat, Duffield is considered as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, as well as the richest. His long streak of success is bound to continue for many years.