Omid Kordestani
Encyclopedia
Omid R. Kordestani is an Iranian-American businessman who works as Senior Advisor to Office of the CEO and Founders at Google
. Kordestani was the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations of Google
until he stepped down on April 16, 2009.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:px9-N7lVbaIJ:www.calstate.edu/BOT/agendas/may08/InstAdv.pdf+kordestani+tehran&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjfsX5f95efRJAHoeSjzVxp0OvDcSZDfsVhEs1wnzg3jH3zLis7CflgYnLqveZpLbsobYsQlhKOvPezVV7XW6hcrMrXoMkcNoO9mdO4eiv1x2VKKhaFmRkELz2-MzjqAFSoKofG&sig=AHIEtbQAn1C-ohX7u7Hv_Iu69WK1wnjtEw, and grew up there attending Andisheh Don Bosco School, an Italian Catholic school in Tehran that emphasised education and language skills. He moved to San Jose, California
at the age of 14 after the death of his father. He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from San Jose State University
and went to work for Hewlett Packard as an engineer. Several years later in order to pursue a business degree, he entered Stanford Business School and earned his MBA in 1991.
Due to his surname, he is sometimes mistakenly associated with Kordestan province, but he is an ethnic Persian
and he grew up speaking Persian
and English.
including key positions at Internet pioneer Netscape
Communications. He was Google's senior vice president of worldwide sales and field operations until April 16, 2009. He joined Google in May 1999, leading the development and implementation of the company’s initial business model. He played a part in Google's worldwide revenue generation efforts as well as the day-to-day operations of the company’s sales organization. His efforts together with those of others, have transformed the world's top search destination into online advertising's hottest property — scoring more than 100,000 advertisers in just 18 months. He was also vice president of Business Development and Sales and grew Netscape
's website revenue from an annual run-rate of $88 million to more than $200 million in 18 months.
He started his career at Netscape as director of OEM Sales, and during his four-year career at that company he was responsible for establishing major customer relationships with Citibank
, AOL
, Amazon
, Intuit, Travelocity
, Intel, @Home
, eBay
, and Excite
. Prior to Netscape, Kordestani held positions in marketing, product management, and business development at The 3DO Company, Go Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard.
In the May 8, 2006 issue of Time Magazine, Kordestani was named one of Time's "100 People who shape our world".
Kordestani is one of the wealthiest residents in Northern California. San Jose magazine estimates his net worth at $1.9 billion.
He was selected as The Persian Person of the Year in 2007 by Persian Awards.
Kordestani is one of the founders of PARSA Community Foundation, a Persian heritage, entrepreneurship and philanthropic society.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
. Kordestani was the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations of Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
until he stepped down on April 16, 2009.
Early life
Omid Kordestani was born in Tehran, Iranhttp://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:px9-N7lVbaIJ:www.calstate.edu/BOT/agendas/may08/InstAdv.pdf+kordestani+tehran&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjfsX5f95efRJAHoeSjzVxp0OvDcSZDfsVhEs1wnzg3jH3zLis7CflgYnLqveZpLbsobYsQlhKOvPezVV7XW6hcrMrXoMkcNoO9mdO4eiv1x2VKKhaFmRkELz2-MzjqAFSoKofG&sig=AHIEtbQAn1C-ohX7u7Hv_Iu69WK1wnjtEw, and grew up there attending Andisheh Don Bosco School, an Italian Catholic school in Tehran that emphasised education and language skills. He moved to San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
at the age of 14 after the death of his father. He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
and went to work for Hewlett Packard as an engineer. Several years later in order to pursue a business degree, he entered Stanford Business School and earned his MBA in 1991.
Due to his surname, he is sometimes mistakenly associated with Kordestan province, but he is an ethnic Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
and he grew up speaking Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and English.
Career
Kordestani has more than a dozen years of high-technology consumer and enterprise experience,including key positions at Internet pioneer Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
Communications. He was Google's senior vice president of worldwide sales and field operations until April 16, 2009. He joined Google in May 1999, leading the development and implementation of the company’s initial business model. He played a part in Google's worldwide revenue generation efforts as well as the day-to-day operations of the company’s sales organization. His efforts together with those of others, have transformed the world's top search destination into online advertising's hottest property — scoring more than 100,000 advertisers in just 18 months. He was also vice president of Business Development and Sales and grew Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
's website revenue from an annual run-rate of $88 million to more than $200 million in 18 months.
He started his career at Netscape as director of OEM Sales, and during his four-year career at that company he was responsible for establishing major customer relationships with Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, Intuit, Travelocity
Travelocity
Travelocity is an online travel agency and wholly owned subsidiary of Sabre Holdings Corporation, which was a publicly traded company until taken private by Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group in March 2007...
, Intel, @Home
@Home
@Home may refer to:* HotSpot_@Home, a service in the United States provided by T-Mobile. * @Home Network, Defunct: The largest premier former Cable Broadband provider...
, eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, and Excite
Excite
Excite is a collection of Internet sites and services owned by IAC Search & Media, which is a subsidiary of InterActive Corporation . Launched in 1994, it is an online service offering a variety of content, including an Internet portal, a search engine, a web-based email, instant messaging, stock...
. Prior to Netscape, Kordestani held positions in marketing, product management, and business development at The 3DO Company, Go Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard.
In the May 8, 2006 issue of Time Magazine, Kordestani was named one of Time's "100 People who shape our world".
Kordestani is one of the wealthiest residents in Northern California. San Jose magazine estimates his net worth at $1.9 billion.
He was selected as The Persian Person of the Year in 2007 by Persian Awards.
Kordestani is one of the founders of PARSA Community Foundation, a Persian heritage, entrepreneurship and philanthropic society.