Thomas Siebel

Thomas M. Siebel (Template:IPAc-en; born November 20, 1952) is an American businessman, technologist, and author. He founded the enterprise software company Siebel Systems. He is also the founder, chairman, and former CEO of C3.ai, an artificial intelligence software platform and applications company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He is the chairman of First Virtual Group, a diversified holding company with interests in investment management, commercial real estate, agribusiness, and philanthropy.<ref name="fv">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life and education

Siebel was born in Chicago as one of seven children of Arthur Francis Siebel and Ruth A. (née Schmid) Siebel.<ref name=RuthObit>Chicago Tribune: "Obituary - Siebel, Ruth A." January 27, 2006</ref><ref>Wilmette Public Library newspapers Wilmette Life (Wilmette, Illinois), 17 Nov 1955, p. 1 retrieved April 2, 2013</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BA in history, an MBA, an MS in computer science,<ref name=BusinessWeekSaveri>Businessweek: "TOM SIEBEL--CEO, Siebel Systems Inc." By Gabrielle Saveri August 14, 1997</ref> and an honorary doctorate in engineering.<ref name=UIHonoraries>University of Illinois News Release: "Four Chosen to Receive Honorary Degrees at U. of I. May Commencement" By Sharita Forrest February 16, 2006</ref>

Career

Siebel was an executive at Oracle Corporation between 1984 and 1990, holding several management positions.<ref name=forbes>Top Tech Execs: Tom Siebel, Forbes</ref><ref name=FastCompany>Tom Siebel, Fast Company</ref> He was CEO of Gain Technology, a multimedia software company that merged with Sybase in December 1992.<ref name=FastCompany/> Siebel later founded Siebel Systems, where he was chairman and CEO before Oracle acquired the company in January 2006.<ref name=harvard>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref><ref name=oracle>Template:Cite press release</ref> He is the chairman of First Virtual Group, a diversified holding company.<ref name=fv/>

Siebel Systems

Siebel Systems was a software company primarily engaged in the design, development, marketing, and support of customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

In 1989, as an executive at Oracle, Siebel proposed turning an internal sales-force automation tool called Oasis (Oracle automated sales information system) into a commercial product, but Larry Ellison declined, seeing no commercial potential.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1993, Siebel left Oracle and founded Siebel Systems.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 1999, Siebel Systems had become one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Before merging with Oracle in January 2006, Siebel Systems grew to over 8,000 employees in 32 countries, with more than 4,500 corporate customers, and annual revenue exceeding $2 billion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

C3 AI

Siebel founded enterprise artificial intelligence company C3 AI in 2009 and has led the company as CEO since 2011. He transitioned to the role of executive chairman in 2025 after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that left him visually impaired.<ref name=brody2025a /><ref name=brewster2025a />

Management philosophy

In 2019, Siebel initiated a program at C3.ai that covers the cost for employees to complete the University of Illinois’s online Master of Computer Science (MCS) degree through Coursera. Employees who complete the MCS receive a 15% salary increase, a $25,000 cash bonus, and additional stock options.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honors and awards

Siebel has held advisory and board positions at institutions including Stanford, the University of Illinois, and the University of California, Berkeley.<ref name="stanford">Stanford University Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="uiuc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a Trustee at Princeton University from 2008 to 2011.<ref name="PrincetonTrustee">Princeton University, September 23, 2011</ref> He also chairs the American Agora Foundation and is a director at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.<ref name="hoover">Hoover Institution Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Agora">American Agora Foundation Template:Webarchive</ref> Siebel is the founder of the Montana Meth Project and the Siebel Scholars Foundation.<ref name="mmp">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="scholars">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His philanthropic contributions have been recognized by publications such as Barron's, which ranked him among the world's top 25 philanthropists in 2009 and 2010,<ref name="barrons">The 25 Best Givers 2009, Barron's</ref><ref name="barrons2">The 25 Best Givers 2010 Template:Webarchive, Barron's</ref> and BusinessWeek, which included him in its list of The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists in 2007 and 2008.<ref name="bw50">The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists Template:Webarchive, BusinessWeek</ref>

Philanthropy

In 2001, Siebel donated $32 million to the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his alma mater, for the construction of the Siebel Center for Computer Science, which opened in the spring of 2004.<ref name=center>Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2006, he donated $4 million to the university to establish two endowed full professorships: the Thomas M. Siebel Chair in the History of Science and the Thomas M. Siebel Chair in Computer Science.<ref name=chair>Thomas M. Siebel Chair Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2007, Siebel pledged an additional $100 million gift to the university.<ref name=champaign>U of I announces record $100 million gift from Alumnus Thomas Siebel Template:Webarchive, University of Illinois</ref>

In 2015, the Siebel Foundation launched the Siebel Energy Institute to support research on the data management of energy infrastructure monitoring.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, Siebel donated $25 million to fund the construction of the Siebel Center for Design at the University of Illinois, a 60,000-square-foot multidisciplinary facility designed by the architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which was completed in 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2024, Siebel donated $50 million to establish the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois.

Political involvement

In February 2022, Siebel donated $90,000 to the Canada convoy protest in Ottawa, which opposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2024, Siebel donated $500,000 to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Siebel also organized a fundraiser for the politician in September of the same year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2025, Siebel donated $1,000,000 toward funding for opposing of California's Proposition 50,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> making him the third largest<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> single donor in opposition to the bill.

Personal life

Siebel lives in Woodside, California and is married to Stacey Siebel,<ref name=RuthObit/> with whom he has four children. Siebel is the second cousin once removed of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the First Partner of California and wife of Governor Gavin Newsom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2022, Siebel had the highest personal Template:CO2 emissions from private jet use of any American.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Health

Siebel was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in early 2025 that caused significant visual impairment.<ref name=brody2025a>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=brewster2025a>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Elephant incident

On the morning of August 1, 2009, while in Tanzania, Siebel and a guide were observing a group of elephants from 200 yards away when an elephant charged the guide and then turned on Siebel, breaking several ribs, goring him in the left leg, and crushing the right.<ref name=elephant>Tech mogul Tom Siebel injured by elephant, by Julia Prodis Sulek and Brandon Bailey, The Mercury News, 09/03/2009</ref><ref name=golfdigestelephant>A Golfer Never Forgets, by Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest, July 2010</ref> After they radioed for help, it took three hours for him to receive medical treatment.<ref name=elephant/> He was flown to the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, where his wounds were cleaned and his leg was stabilized. He was then flown back to the United States on a 20-hour flight, during which he received 10 hours of morphine and 15 hours of fluids. Having lost half his fluids, he was admitted to the intensive care unit.<ref name=forbeselephant>Tom Siebel On Being Gored By An Elephant, as told to Steven Bertoni, Forbes magazine, 10/11/2010</ref> He was moved to Stanford Hospital where, over the next six months, doctors performed 11 surgeries, fixed his ribs and shoulder, and saved his left leg.<ref name=golfdigestelephant/>

In September 2010, Siebel underwent 16 surgeries and an Ilizarov apparatus external fixator procedure to mend, lengthen, and reshape the tibia of his right leg.<ref name=forbeselephant/> After 19 reconstructive surgeries over two and a half years, Siebel fully recovered.<ref name=forbesprofile>Thomas Siebel, Forbes magazine, 6/26/14</ref> In 2013, National Geographic included Siebel's account in its TV series Dead or Alive: Trampled on Safari.<ref name=NatGeo>Trampled on Safari, National Geographic, 6/26/14</ref>

Books and articles

• Digital Transformation (2019)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:ISBN
• "Digital Transformation: The Post-Industrial Utility" (Aspenia Magazine, June 2018)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• "Why digital transformation is now on the CEO’s shoulders" (McKinsey Quarterly, December 2017)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• "The Internet of Energy" (Electric Perspectives, March/April 2015)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• "Big Data and the Smart Grid: Is Hadoop the Answer?" (Stanford Energy Journal, October 21, 2014)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Taking Care of eBusiness (2001) Template:ISBN
• Cyber Rules (with Pat House) (1999)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:ISBN
• Virtual Selling (with Michael Malone) (1996)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:ISBN

External links

• First Virtual Group
  • The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation
• C3.ai (formerly C3 Energy, C3 IoT)
• Dịch vụ diệt mối (VinPest)