Jack Smith (Hotmail)

Jack Smith is an American enterprenuer, businessman and engineer who co-founded the first free web-based email service, Hotmail.com in 1996.<ref name="stanfordalumni">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Jack Smith worked at FirePower Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc., where he designed integrated circuits for use in high performance PowerPC workstations, and invented and marketed the first web server accelerator card that boosted server performance significantly.

Later on at Apple Computer, he worked on several of Apple's early PowerBook computers.<ref name="findarticles">Template:Cite web</ref>

He has been the founder and president of EEE.com, building custom Internet web solutions.<ref>Brief bio available in the "About" section of the original HoTMaiL website (archived 1997)</ref>

Smith came up with the idea for anonymous web-based email in 1995, and worked with Sabeer Bhatia, his colleague at Apple, to found the company.<ref name="stanfordalumni"/> The company opened on July 4, 1996,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with Smith as its chief technology officer.

In December 1997, Bhatia sold Hotmail to Microsoft for a reported $400 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Smith joined Microsoft as part of the acquisition and served as a Director of Engineering of Microsoft, first heading its Hotmail engineering division, and then leading a team developing next generation Internet software infrastructure.<ref name="BLOOMBERG">"Executive Profile: Jack Smith"Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore, Bloomberg Businessweek</ref>

Smith went on to co-found Akamba Corporation and work as its CEO.

In 2007 he was named CEO of Proximex, a physical security information management software provider<ref name="findarticles" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2015, Smith has been CEO of Verifyle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

• Bronson, Po, "HotMale: Sabeer Bhatia started his company on $300,000 and sold it two years later for $400 million. So, is he lucky, or great?", Wired, Issue 6.12, December 1998