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Revision as of 16:35, 23 April 2022 by Ktin (talk | contribs) (→Career: Removing dup text; minor reorg.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Indian-American entrepreneur
Umang Gupta | |
---|---|
Born | August 3, 1949 |
Died | April 19, 2022 (aged 72) |
Nationality | Indian-American |
Alma mater | Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Kent State University |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, philanthropist |
Umang Gupta (August 3, 1949 – April 19, 2022) was an Indian-American entrepreneur and Silicon Valley, California executive credited with writing the first business plan for Oracle Corporation.
Early life
Gupta was born August 3, 1949, in Patiala in the Indian state of Punjab, to Ramnika Gupta and Ved Prakash Gupta. His mother was a politician and activist, while his father worked with the Indian labor ministry. He grew up with his grandparents after his parents divorce. He obtained his Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in 1971. During his time at IIT Kanpur, Gupta was exposed to the first IBM computers in the country helping him develop his computer programming skills. During the Vietnam War, Gupta immigrated to the United States to earn his M.B.A. and to join the technology industry. After immigrating to the United States, Gupta also earned M.B.A. degree (1972) from Kent State University in Ohio, US. In 1996, Umang received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Career
IBM and Oracle
After graduating, he joined IBM as a computer sales representative. After working seven years at IBM, in 1981 Umang Gupta joined Oracle Corporation as their 17th employee. He was credited with writing the company’s first business plan in 1981 and was eventually promoted to vice president of the company’s microcomputer products division. He served in this role until his departure from the company in 1984.
Gupta Technologies
He was the founder and chief executive of Gupta Technologies, a client/server database and tools company, from 1984 to 1996, where he helped to usher in the era of client server computing with the first SQL database server and application development tools for PC networks. In the ‘80s, Gupta Technologies produced products such as interfaces for programming custom applications and tools for programmers with a background in Cobol, dBase, or Visual Basic. Gupta was the first executive who had worked under Larry Ellison to start his own company. Gupta Technologies was the first-ever Indian-run enterprise software company to go public on Nasdaq. Gupta sold the company in 1997.
Keynote Systems
Gupta was chairman and chief executive officer of Keynote Systems from December 1997. Gupta oversaw the company as it went public in 1999. Gupta was able to negotiate the merger between Keynote and Vividence in 2004 after meeting Vividence CEO Peter Watkins at a poker game. It was sold to private equity company Thoma Bravo in August 2013.
Other
Gupta served as an advisor and investor in William Draper’s project to create a venture capital fund for India in 1994. He served on the board of Mosaix, a company that developed call-center software, from 1997 to 1999 before it was sold to Lucent Technologies.
After selling Keynote Systems, Gupta dedicated his efforts to education for young children, founding SeaShells Education. One of his main initiatives was Reading Racer. Gupta also began investing in educational technology companies such as Front Row Education.
In 2000 Gupta was honored with the Shreyas Mavanoor Foundation Award for Civic Leadership and Philanthropy. Gupta served on the board of the Peninsula Community Foundation, California, which later merged with another foundation to form the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the largest community foundation in the United States. He along with his wife Ruth were donors to, and served as board members of PARCA, a non-profit organization in the Bay Area of California devoted to the needs of the developmentally disabled and their families, and helped to found Raji House, a respite home for the developmentally disabled, located in Burlingame, California. Gupta also had an avid interest in history and served as Chairman of the Board of the San Mateo Historical Association where he and his wife helped sponsor the "Immigrants Gallery", also known as the “Land of Opportunity” Exhibit, a permanent exhibition to honor the contributions of immigrants to San Mateo County. Gupta and his wife Ruth also contributed $500,000 for the renovation of the San Mateo County History Museum, which was acknowledged as the biggest private contribution received by the museum.
Gupta was also a co-founder of the IIT Kanpur Foundation and served as Global Board Chairman of PanIIT, the alumni organization of over 200,000 alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology. He has also participated as an angel investor and advisor to various Silicon Valley technology companies.
He was also a guest contributor to The New York Times.
Personal life
Gupta was married to Ruth Gupta, an immigrant from Great Britain. The couple had three children; two sons and a daughter. One of his sons died at an early age. The couple founded Raji House, a support center for developmentally disabled children. The center was associated with Partners & Advocates for Remarkable Children & Adults.
Gupta died on April 19, 2022 at his house in San Mateo, California from a medically assisted death. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier.
References
- Indian American Software Pioneer Passes Away
- "Umang Gupta". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- "Umang Gupta Chair". Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010.
- ^ "Umang Gupta". Asian Pacific Fund.
- "Official website". India Institute of Technology.
- ^ Clark, Don (April 22, 2022). "Umang Gupta, Who Paved Way for Indian Tech Executives, Dies at 73". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ "ON THE RECORD / Umang Gupta / Chairman, PanIIT USA". SFGATE. July 1, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- ^ Heredia, Christopher (February 20, 2004). "Gifts give History Museum a boost". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- Tahmincioglu, Eve (September 30, 2006). From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-05416-1.
- "Umang Gupta: No Victory is Final and No defeat is Fatal-Tuesday, June 4, 2013". www.cioreview.com. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- Gupta, Umang; Gietz, William (June 1989). SQL Programmer's Guide. Que Corporation. ISBN 9780880223904.
- ^ Martin, Neil A. (December 2, 2004). "Deal Done, With Perseverance and a Poker Game". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- "Deal done, with perseverance and a poker game". The New York Times. December 2, 2004.
- Abelson, Reed (May 16, 2001). "MANAGEMENT; Cyclical School of Hard Knocks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- "Thoma Bravo Completes Take-Private Acquisition of Keynote". Press release. Reuters. August 22, 2013. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- "Keynote Completes Sale to Thoma Bravo: Becoming a Privately-Held Company". Press release. Keynote. August 22, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- "Keynote sale shows what Umang Gupta learned". The Wall Street Journal. August 23, 2013.
- Writer, Peter Sinton, Chronicle Senior (March 14, 1995). "Venture Capital Fund Will Focus On Fueling India". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Umang and Ruth Gupta". Hindustan Times. February 21, 2004. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- "New reading app released: Reading Racer | Entertainment Technology Center". www.etc.cmu.edu. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- "Readers' Biggest Retirement Surprises". Wall Street Journal. February 10, 2017. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- Singer, Natasha (March 11, 2015). "Privacy Pitfalls as Education Apps Spread Haphazardly". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- "PARCA » You're Remarkable Dinner 2020". Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- "Board of Directors". SMCHA Official Website.
- "Land of Opportunity - San Mateo County History Museum". San Mateo County Historical Association. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- "Global Mission". PANIIT Global.
- ^ "The Boss: Love That Lemonade Stand". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved April 19, 2022.