Thomas Siebel Biography

Thomas Siebel (born November 20, 1952) is a business executive. He is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of C3, an energy efficiency and smart grid analytics software company. He is the Chairman of First Virtual Group, a diversified holding company with interests in investment management, commercial real estate, agribusiness, and philanthropy.

Early life and education

Siebel was born in Chicago, one of seven children of Arthur F. Siebel, a Harvard educated lawyer, and Ruth (nee Schmid) Siebel, a housewife. He has five brothers and one sister: Frances Cihak; Richard (who served as Cook County Commissioner), James, William, Robert, and John. His family was Lutheran. Siebel is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received a B.A. in history, an M.B.A., and an M.S. in computer science.

Career

From 1984 through 1990, Siebel was an executive at Oracle Corporation, where he held a number of management positions. Siebel served as chief executive officer of Gain Technology, a multimedia software company that merged with Sybase in December 1992. Siebel was the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Siebel Systems, which was acquired by Oracle in January 2006. Siebel is the chairman of First Virtual Group, a diversified holding company.

Siebel has been a frequent industry spokesperson. His books include: Cyber Rules (1999), and Taking Care of eBusiness (2001) published by Doubleday, and Virtual Selling (2002), published by the Free Press.

Honors and awards

Siebel serves on the Board of Advisors of the Stanford University College of Engineering, the University of Illinois College of Engineering, and the University of California at Berkeley College of Engineering. He is a Director of the University of Illinois Foundation and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and is the Chairman of the Board for the American Agora Foundation. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Meth Project and the Siebel Scholars Foundation, and Chairman of the Siebel Foundation. He was ranked #5 and #3 of the world's top 25 philanthropists by Barron's Magazine in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In 2007 and 2008, he was named one of The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists by BusinessWeek.

Siebel received the David Packard Award for his achievements as a technology entrepreneur and his contributions to national security from the Business Executives for National Security in 2002 and was named one of the Top 25 Managers in the World by BusinessWeek in 2000 and 2001.

In 1999, 2000, and 2001, Fortune magazine recognized Siebel Systems as the fastest, third fastest, and second fastest growing company in the United States, respectively. Call Center Magazine inducted him to its Hall of Fame in 2000 in recognition for contributions to the business and technology of customer service.

• Top 10 CEOs - Investor's Business Daily, 2000
• University of Illinois Presidential Award and Medallion, 2001
• One of Top 25 Managers in Global Business " BusinessWeek, 1999 to 2001
• CEO of the Year " Industry Week, 2002
• David Packard Award " Business Executives for National Security, 2002
• Thomas M. Siebel, Master Entrepreneur of the Year " Ernst & Young, 2003
• The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists " BusinessWeek, 2007, 2008
• Lincoln Academy Laureate " The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, 2008
• Engineering at Illinois Hall of Fame, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
• Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship " The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution, 2010
• Ranked #5 of the World's Top 25 Philanthropists " Barron's, 2009
• Ranked #3 of the World's Top 25 Philanthropists " Barron's, 2010

Philanthropy

The Siebel Foundation (founded 1996) is active in support of the homeless and underprivileged, educational and research programs, methamphetamine abuse prevention, and alternative energy solutions. The Siebel Foundation created the Siebel Scholars Foundation, the Dearborn Scholars Fund in Montana, and the Meth Project Foundation.

In 2001, Siebel donated $32 million to his alma mater, the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to build the Siebel Center for Computer Science, opened in spring 2004. In 2006, Siebel donated $4 million to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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. Siebel pledged an additional $100 million gift to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007.

Siebel continues to develop philanthropic initiatives.

Energy Free Home Challenge

In 2007, the philanthropic Siebel Foundation created the Energy Free Home Foundation. The goal was to offer $20 million in global incentive prizes to design and build a 2,000 square foot (186 square meter) three-bedroom, two bathroom home with (1) net-zero annual utility bills that also has (2) high market appeal, and (3) costs no more than a conventional home to construct.

The plan included funding to build the top ten entries at $250,000 each, a $10 million first prize, and then a total of 100 such homes to be built and sold to the public.

Beginning in 2009, Tom Siebel made many presentations about his Energy Free Home Challenge. The Siebel Foundation Report stated that the Energy Free Home Challenge was "Launching in late 2009".

Berkeley National Laboratory (University of California, Berkeley) participated in writing the "Feasibility of Achieving Zero-Net-Energy, Zero-Net-Cost Homes" for the $20-million Energy Free Home Challenge.

Although the energyfreehome.org website is still defined, everything about the $20-million Challenge has been deleted without explanation.

2008 Republican presidential campaign

In the 2008 United States presidential election campaign, Siebel provided backing to the Republican ticket. It was Siebel who introduced Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin to the crowd at a California fund-raising brunch with the quote "Sarah Palin carries the flag of outrage ... for each of us who cries out, 'We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore.'" He remained an active organizer up until the elections. Siebel organized a Republican fundraising Gala in honor of Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, where the asking price for a snapshot with her and a seat at the head table was $50,000. A $2,500 donation was to come with a John McCain lapel pin. Local activists called for protest of the event. However, the event was rescheduled, then canceled altogether.

Personal life

A part-time Montana resident, Siebel owns and operates the Dearborn Ranch in Wolf Creek, Montana, and the N Bar Ranch in Grass Range, Montana, both working cattle ranches. Siebel's time in Montana has lasted 35 years.

Elephant incident

Siebel said that on the morning of August 1, 2009, he and a guide were in Tanzania, observing a group of elephants from 200 yards away, when an elephant charged Siebel's guide and then turned on Siebel. Siebel suffered several injuries: his left leg was impaled, his right was crushed, and his ribs were broken. Siebel is in the process of making a full recovery.

Books

• Taking Care of eBusiness (2001) ISBN 0-385-50227-3
• Cyber Rules (with Pat House) (2001) ISBN 84-7577-804-6
• Virtual Selling (with Michael Malone) (2002) ISBN 0-7432-3649-1