Greg Whitten is an American computer engineer, investor and car collector. Whitten graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

with a B.A. in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

in 1973, and from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with a Ph.D. in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

in 1978. He worked for Compucolor, a company in Georgia established in 1977 that made the home computer Compucolor II (an early PC) but went out of business in 1983. While there, he reputedly optimized an unlicensed copy of Microsoft Basic so effectively that Microsoft later forgave Compucolor for their infringement in exchange for the rights to the enhancements.

Microsoft 1979–1998

He then worked for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

from 1979 to 1998. He developed the standards for the company's

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

compiler line. "GW" in the name of the

GW-BASIC GW-BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft from IBM BASICA. Functionally identical to BASICA, its BASIC interpreter is a fully self-contained executable and does not need the Cassette BASIC ROM found in the ori ...

dialect (first released 1983) of BASIC developed by

may have come from Greg Whitten's initials:

"The GW-BASIC name stands for Gee-Whiz BASIC. The GW- name was picked by Bill Gates. He is the one who knows whether it was Gee-Whiz or after me because it has been used both ways. I did set the directions for the BASIC language features after joining the company in 1979."

: - Greg Whitten, 13 Apr 2005 As a chief software architect, he also oversaw the development of the enterprise support systems required in Windows for the

Microsoft Office Microsoft Office, MS Office, or simply Office, is an office suite and family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. The first version of the Office suite, announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at CO ...

Numerix 1998–2013

In 1998 he became member of the board of

Numerix Numerix is an American capital markets front-to-risk technology provider. It is headquartered in New York City with nineteen offices worldwide. The company develops analytics and software for Financial risk management, risk management, trading, Va ...

, a financial software company established 1996, where he had made a major investment and in 2001 was elected Boardman after another major investment. After being its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

2003–13, he was succeeded by Steve O'Hanlon.

Car collector

He is also a

vintage car A vintage car is, in the most general sense, an old automobile, and in the narrower senses of car enthusiasts and collectors, it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930, Either a "survivor" or one that has been fixed up according to the or ...

enthusiast and has a famous car collection that contains various Ferraris including his first, a

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (Type F120) is a Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car version ...

, a Ferrari Enzo (#131632), a

Ferrari 250 GTO The Ferrari 250 GTO is a grand tourer produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for Homologation (motorsport), homologation into the FIA's Group 3 (racing), Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's Ferrari Colombo engine#250, ...

(#3413GT, 2000–2018), a Ferrari 250 LM (#5907, 1994–2005), a Ferrari 250 GT TdF (#0703GT, 1997–), a

Ferrari F50 The Ferrari F50 (Type F130) is a limited production RMR layout, mid-engine sports car manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 1995 until 1997. Introduced in 1995, the car is a two-door, two seat targa top. The F50 is powered ...

(#104163, 1995–2004), and two LaFerrari, of which one is the unique in blue electrics. His Ferrari 250 GTO sold for $48.8 million at a public auction in August 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitten, Greg University of Virginia alumni Harvard University alumni American computer businesspeople Microsoft employees Living people American computer scientists American car collectors Year of birth missing (living people)