Leadership

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Mr. Saylor has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since founding MicroStrategy in November 1989 and as President from November 1989 to November 2000 and from January 2005 to October 2012. Prior to founding MicroStrategy, Mr. Saylor was employed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as a Venture Manager from 1988 to 1989 and by Federal Group, Inc. as a consultant from 1987 to 1988. Mr. Saylor received an S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and an S.B. in Science, Technology and Society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Saylor is the bestselling author of the book The Mobile Wave. Read more at Michael.com »

Prior to his election as President, Mr. Zolfaghari served as the Chief Operating Officer of ParAccel, Inc., an analytic database company headquartered in California, a position he had held from January 2011 to November 2012. Prior to his tenure at ParAccel, Mr. Zolfaghari served as MicroStrategy's Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales & Operations from December 2007 to January 2011, as Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Operations from August 2006 to December 2007, as Vice President, Worldwide Business Affairs from March 2005 to August 2006, as Vice President & Chief of Staff from July 2003 to March 2005, as Chief of Staff from November 2000 to July 2003, and as assistant to MicroStrategy's President & Chief Executive Officer from December 1999 to November 2000. Mr. Zolfaghari received a B.A. in English from Gettysburg College and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Prior to his election as Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Thede was serving as the Company's Executive Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer, positions he had held since September 2009. Mr. Thede has also been Treasurer of the Company since November 2008, and will continue to serve in this position. Mr. Thede previously served as the Company's Interim Chief Financial Officer from March 2009 to September 2009, as Vice President, Worldwide Tax from November 2008 to September 2009, as acting Vice President, Worldwide Controller from March 2009 to June 2009, and as Vice President, Worldwide Tax Planning & Compliance from the time he joined MicroStrategy in June 2008 to March 2009. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Thede served as Senior Director, Tax of Convergys Corporation, an S&P 500 company that provides relationship management solutions, from March 2005 to May 2008, and as senior tax manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from August 2003 to March 2005. Mr. Thede also served a total of twelve years with Cincinnati Bell Inc., Ernst & Young LLP, and KPMG Peat Marwick from 1991 to 2003. Mr. Thede is a certified public accountant and received a B.S. in Business from Miami University.

Prior to his election as Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Xiao was serving as the Company's Executive Vice President, Network and Applications Engineering, a position he had held since March 2012. Mr. Xiao previously served as the Company's Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer from December 2007 to February 2012, and as Vice President & Chief Information Officer from May 2006 to December 2007. From April 1999 to May 2006, Mr. Xiao held various positions of increasing responsibility in the Company's information systems department. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Xiao served as the head of IT operations for Bond and Pecaro, a strategic consulting firm. Mr. Xiao received a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in International Business from Hawaii Pacific University and an M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

Michael J. Saylor has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors since founding MicroStrategy in November 1989 and as President from November 1989 to November 2000 and since January 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Saylor was employed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as a Venture Manager from 1988 to 1989 and by Federal Group, Inc. as a consultant from 1987 to 1988. Mr. Saylor received an S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and an S.B. in Science, Technology and Society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Michael Saylor is the bestselling author of the book The Mobile Wave.

Sanju K. Bansal has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since 1993 and was previously Vice President, Consulting since joining MicroStrategy in 1990. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since September 1997 and has served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since November 2000. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Bansal was a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, a worldwide technical and management consulting firm, from 1987 to 1990. Mr. Bansal received an S.B. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Computer Science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Matthew W. Calkins has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since November 2004. In 1999, Mr. Calkins founded Appian Corporation, a privately-held business process management company, where he has served as the president and chief executive officer since its founding. Mr. Calkins received a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.

Robert H. Epstein has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since January 2006. Mr. Epstein is currently president and chief executive officer of Takeda Lace USA, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Japan-based textile manufacturer Takeda Lace Co., Ltd., a position he has held since May 2002. From October 2001 until May 2002, Mr. Epstein pursued various business opportunities, including serving as a consultant for Warnaco Inc., an apparel manufacturer. From June 1978 until October 2001, Mr. Epstein served in various positions at textile manufacturer Liberty Fabrics of New York, Inc., concluding his tenure as Division President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Epstein received a B.S. in Psychology from Columbia University and did coursework at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

David W. LaRue, Ph.D. has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since February 2006. Dr. LaRue was a member of the accounting faculty of the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce for twenty-five years prior to his retirement in May 2008. Dr. LaRue has published several technical and policy articles in prominent tax and accounting journals and has testified on tax policy issues before the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Treasury Department. Dr. LaRue currently serves as an independent consultant on matters involving tax, accounting, and financial issues. He has been recognized as an expert witness in accounting, taxation, finance, and/or economics by the U.S. Tax Court, the Federal Claims Court, and several Federal District Courts.

Jarrod M. Patten has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since November 2004. In 1996, Mr. Patten founded RRG and has served as the president and chief executive officer since inception. RRG is an independent international consulting firm specializing in the development and implementation of enterprise-wide cost control strategies that heighten operational controls, increase transparency, ensure cost compliance and extend cost accountability for RRG's geographically diverse client base. Mr. Patten received a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University.

Carl J. Rickertsen has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since October 2002. Mr. Rickertsen is currently managing partner of Pine Creek Partners, a private equity investment firm, a position he has held since January 2004. From January 1998 until January 2004, Mr. Rickertsen was chief operating officer and a partner at Thayer Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm. From September 1994 until January 1998, Mr. Rickertsen was a managing partner at Thayer. Mr. Rickertsen was a founding partner of three Thayer investment funds totaling over $1.4 billion and is a published author. Mr. Rickertsen is also a member of the board of directors of Convera Corporation, a publicly-traded search-engine software company, United Agri Products, a distributor of farm and agricultural products, and Homeland Security Capital Corporation, a consolidator in the fragmented homeland security industry. Mr. Rickertsen received a B.S. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Thomas P. Spahr has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since January 2006. Mr. Spahr is currently president of Libra Ventures, LLC, a start-up web based applications design company, a position he has held since November 2004. Since February 2004, Mr. Spahr has also been serving as Vice President, Secretary, and Vice President of Business Development for Jex Technologies, Inc., a technology company focusing on automating health care logistics. From June 2001 until February 2004, Mr. Spahr was an independent investor. From 1996 until June 2001, Mr. Spahr served in various positions at MicroStrategy, concluding his tenure as Vice President, Information Systems and Chief Information Officer. Mr. Spahr received an S.B. Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.