Anthony Michael Fadell (born March 22, 1969) is an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, designer, entrepreneur, and investor. He was senior vice president of the

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

division at

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

and founder and former CEO of Nest Labs. Fadell joined Apple Inc. in 2001 and oversaw all iPod hardware, software, and accessories development. He is known as the "father of the iPod". As the co-creator of the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

, he also worked on the first three generations of the iPhone and oversaw all iPhone hardware, firmware, and accessories development from March 2006 to November 2008. In May 2010, he co-founded Nest Labs, which announced its first product, the Nest Learning Thermostat, in October 2011. Nest was acquired by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

in January 2014 for $3.2B. Fadell has authored more than 300 patents and was named one of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

s "100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2014. In 2016 ''Time'' named the Nest Learning Thermostat, the iPod and the iPhone as three of the “50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time".

Education and early life

Fadell was born on March 22, 1969, in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, to a Lebanese father and Polish mother. Fadell is an alumnus of Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. He graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(BS) degree in

Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

in 1991.

Career

General Magic

After college, Fadell worked for Apple spinoff

General Magic General Magic was an American software and electronics company co-founded by Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld, and Marc Porat. Based in Mountain View, California, the company developed precursors to "USB, software modems, small touchscreens, to ...

for three years, working with Sony, Philips, Matsushita, Toshiba and other consumer electronics firms in the "General Magic Alliance" to develop a line of personal handheld communicators. He started in 1992 as a diagnostics engineer and progressed to a systems architect.

Philips Electronics

In 1995, he was hired by

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

where he co-founded their Mobile Computing Group and served as the chief technology officer, and director of engineering. He developed a number of

Windows CE Windows CE, later known as Windows Embedded CE and Windows Embedded Compact, is a discontinued operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile and embedded devices. It was part of the Windows Embedded family and served as the software foun ...

-based hand-held devices, notably the

Philips Velo The Philips Velo is a Handheld PC developed by Philips. Velo 1 The initial Velo 1 was a PDA device released by Philips in 1997. The device was typical of the HPCs at the time, being powered by two AA batteries or a rechargeable NiMH battery p ...

and Nino PDA. Fadell went on to become a vice president of Philips Strategy and Ventures where he was in charge of developing Philips's digital audio strategy consisting of technology direction for silicon and software, as well as its investment portfolio and potential business models.

Fuse

After Philips Fadell worked at

RealNetworks RealNetworks LLC is an American technology company and provider of Internet streaming media delivery software and services based in Seattle, Washington. The company also provides subscription-based online entertainment services and mobile enter ...

for six weeks. In July 1999, Fadell started his own company called Fuse to develop the "Dell of the Consumer Electronics". One of the devices he had in mind was a small

hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

-based music player and an online-store-for-music. Fuse failed, however, to find a second round of funding, and Fadell started exploring developing the product at other companies.

Apple Inc.

Fadell is known as the "father of the iPod". Fadell found support for his business idea of an MP3 player complemented by an online music store in

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

. In 2001 Fadell was hired by Apple as a contractor designing the

and planning Apple's audio product strategy. His idea for a small hard disk-based music player and an online-store-for-music had caught

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

's attention. During that time, he created the concept and initial design of the iPod. He was then hired by Apple to assemble and run its iPod & Special Projects group in April 2001. He was tasked with overseeing the design and production of the

and iSight devices. Due to the engineers and resources at Apple being constrained with the Mac line, Fadell hired engineers from his startup company, Fuse, and veteran engineers from General Magic and Philips to build the core iPod development team. He also hired an outside company to develop the software for the player. He was promoted to vice president of iPod engineering in 2004 and on October 14, 2005, Apple announced that Fadell would replace the retiring Jon Rubinstein as Senior Vice President of the iPod Division on March 31, 2006. On November 3, 2008, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' broke the story of Fadell's departure from Apple.

Nest Labs, Inc.

Fadell developed the business plan for Nest while living in Paris in 2009. Together with Matt Rogers, a former Apple colleague, he set out to redesign the traditional thermostat. In May 2010 Fadell and Rogers co-founded Nest Labs in Palo Alto, CA. Nest announced its first product, the Nest Learning Thermostat, in October 2011. Nest was acquired by

in January 2014 for $3.2B. Fadell announced his resignation as CEO of Nest on June 3, 2016.

Build Collective

As of 2017, Fadell has been running a venture fund originally called Future Shape, now called Build Collective.

Author

His book ''Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making'' was released May 3, 2022. ''Build'' has been named a ''New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', and ''USA Today'' best seller.

Awards and honors

In 2012, he was the recipient of the Alva Award, honoring him as "the next great serial inventor". Vanity Fair also recognized him as a trailblazer on their 2012 Next Establishment list. In 2013, Fadell was acknowledged as one of Business Insider's Top 75 Designers in Technology, Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People, and CNBC's Top 50 Disruptors. Overview of awards and recognitions: * (2012) Alva Award, "The Next Great Serial Inventor" * (2012) (2013) (2014) ''Vanity Fair'', Next Establishment list * (2013) ''Business Insider'', Top 75 Designers in Technology * (2013) ''Fast Company'', 100 Most Creative People * (2013) CNBC, Top 50 Disruptors * (2013) ''Fortune'', Trailblazers: 11 people changing business * (2014) ''Fortune'', The World's Top 25 Eco-Innovators * (2014) ''Time'', 100 Most Influential People in the World * (2014) CNN, CNN 10: Thinkers * (2014) Golden Plate Award,

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

, presented by Awards Council member

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

*(2016) ''Time'', named the Nest Learning Thermostat, the iPod and the iPhone as three of the "50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time" *(2017) ''Global High-Tech Award'', State Award of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

for Global Contribution to Humanity through High-Tech

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadell, Tony 1969 births Living people American designers American people of Lebanese descent American people of Polish descent American technology chief executives American technology company founders Apple Inc. employees Apple Inc. executives Google employees University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Alphabet Inc. people 21st-century American inventors Psi Upsilon