Peter Gassner

Peter P. Gassner
Born1965 (age 58–59)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materOregon State University, 1989
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder of Veeva
TitleCEO of Veeva

Peter P. Gassner (born 1965) is the CEO and co-founder of Veeva, a company supporting processes in the pharmaceutical industry. With a net worth of US $5.25 billion, he is ranked 494th by Bloomberg on the list of billionaires worldwide.[1] He is a member of the board of directors of Zoom Video Communications.

Early life

Gassner grew up in Portland, Oregon, the son of Swiss immigrants. His father owned a machine shop. Peter is the third of six children.[2] When he was 8 years old, he worked as a paperboy. He later worked mowing lawns, in a restaurant, and then, in high school, he had a roofing business. In high school, he was also captain of the wrestling team. A math teacher recommended that he take a computer science class, which influenced his career.[3]

Gassner kept starting and stopping college, taking extended breaks in Hawaii, Australia, and Thailand, where he worked as a trekking guide.[4]

When he was 21 years old, he was robbed of all his belongings while hitchhiking through Malaysia.[4] He earned a degree in computer science from Oregon State University in 1989.[4]

Career

Gassner worked on DB2 for IBM's Silicon Valley Lab. He also worked for IBM Research at the Almaden Research Center.[citation needed]

Beginning at the age of 30, he worked for PeopleSoft for 9 years as both Chief Architect and General Manager of PeopleTools.[citation needed]

He then worked for Salesforce.com as Senior Vice President of Technology.[4][3]

After 4 years of working at Salesforce, he saw an opportunity to offer software focused on life sciences built on Salesforce's platform.[5]

In 2007, along with Matt Wallach, Doug Ostler, and Mitch Wallace, he launched Veeva Systems, a software firm that serves life sciences companies.[4][3]

Personal life

Gassner is married and has 2 sons.[3] He lives in Pleasanton, California. He speaks Thai language.

References

  1. ^ "Peter Gassner". Bloomberg.
  2. ^ "A Late Bloomer on Building a Legitimate Unicorn: Veeva Systems CEO Peter Gassner (Part 1)". Sramana Mitra. June 27, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Stahl, Nicole Zaro (August 21, 2012). "Veeva Systems CEO Peter Gassner Leads with a Steady Hand". Hacienda Business Park Owners Association.
  4. ^ a b c d e STETTNER, MOREY (June 29, 2019). "Veeva's Peter Gassner Combines Today's Execution With Tomorrow's Vision". Investor's Business Daily.
  5. ^ "Peter Gassner". Forbes.