Enrique Salem
Enrique Salem | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day Barranquilla, Colombia |
| Occupation(s) | Venture capitalist, former CEO of Symantec |
| Known for | CEO of Symantec (2009–2012), partner at Bain Capital Ventures |
Enrique Salem (born November 1965) is an American venture capitalist and former chief executive officer of the software firm Symantec (2009–2012). Before ascending to the CEO position, he held the role of Chief Operating Officer at Symantec and was appointed to the U.S. President's Management Advisory Board.
Biography
Salem was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, to Palestinian Christian parents. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College. Early in his career, he served as Vice President at Peter Norton Computing, which Symantec acquired in 1990; there, he oversaw the creation of Norton Desktop for Windows. After departing Symantec, Salem returned when his company Brightmail, where he was CEO, was purchased by Symantec in 2004. Brightmail was known for its anti-spam email solutions.
Over a span of 19 years, Salem contributed significantly to Symantec, spending nearly ten years with the company prior to his appointment as CEO in April 2009, succeeding John W. Thompson. His leadership continued until July 2012, when the board decided to remove him from the position.
In 2014, Salem became a partner at Bain Capital Ventures, concentrating on investments in infrastructure software and cybersecurity sectors. He holds board memberships at several portfolio companies such as DocuSign, and independently serves on boards including Mandiant (MNDT), Atlassian (TEAM), and ForeScout (FSCT). Moreover, he provides advisory support to numerous private startups like Cloudgenix, Attivo Networks, ShieldX, Awake Security, ShiftLeft, Red Balloon Security, BetterCloud, Rubrik, and VISO TRUST.
His prior experience includes vice-presidential roles at Security Pacific Merchant Bank, Ask Jeeves, and Oblix Inc. Salem also contributed as a board member for City Year San Jose from 2015 to 2018 and continues as a trustee.
Among his accolades are Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2004 and Hispanic Net's Corporate Executive of the Year award in 2007. In 2011, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. President's Management Advisory Board throughout the administration.