Philippe Kahn | |
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| Born | (1952-03-16)March 16, 1952 (age 73)[1][2][3] Paris, France |
| Occupations | CEO ofBorland Software,Fullpower Technologies,Inventor,Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Executive, inventor, serial entrepreneur |
| Spouse | Sonia Lee |
Philippe Kahn (born March 16, 1952)[4] is a French engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of four technology companies:Borland,Starfish Software,LightSurf Technologies, andFullpower Technologies. Kahn is credited with creating the firstcamera phone,[5][6] being a pioneer for wearable technologyintellectual property, and is the author of dozens of technology patents coveringInternet of Things (IoT),artificial intelligence (AI) modeling, wearable, eyewear, smartphone, mobile, imaging, wireless, synchronization and medical technologies.[7][8]
Philippe Kahn is the son of Charles-Henri Kahn (1915–1999) andClaire Monis (1922–1967).
Kahn was born and raised in Paris, France.[9] He was born to Jewish immigrants of modest means.
His mother was a French singer, actress, and violinist, raised in Paris by parents who had fled the Russian pogroms. Arrested in 1942 for being Lieutenant in the French Resistance, she was 21 years old when she was sent to theAuschwitz extermination camp. She survived as a member of theAuschwitz Women's Orchestra conducted byAlma Rosé.[10] After his parents separated in 1957, Philippe Kahn was raised solely by his mother. He was only 15 years old when his mother died in a car accident in Paris.[11][12]
Kahn was educated in mathematics at theETH Zurich,Switzerland (Swiss FederalPolytechnic Institute), on a full scholarship andUniversity of Nice Sophia Antipolis,France. He received amaster's inmathematics. He also received a master's inmusicology composition and classical flute performance at the Zurich Music Conservatory in Switzerland.[13] As a student, Kahn developed software for theMICRAL, which is credited by theComputer History Museum as the first ever microprocessor-based personal computer.[14]
Kahn has founded four software companies:Borland, founded in 1982 (acquired byMicro Focus in 2009),Starfish Software, founded in 1994 (acquired byMotorola in 1998, and subsequently Google in 2011),LightSurf Technologies, founded in 1998 (acquired byVerisign in 2005), andFullpower Technologies, founded in 2005.
Kahn founded Borland in 1982, and was its CEO until 1995. At the time it was a competitor ofMicrosoft's, and produced programming language compilers and software development tools.[15][11] Its first product,Turbo Pascal, sold for $49.95 at a time when programming tools cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.[16] Kahn was President, CEO, and Chairman of Borland and, without venture capital, took Borland from no revenues to a US$500 millionrun-rate. Kahn and the Borland board came to a disagreement on how to focus the company. In January 1995, he was forced by the board to resign from his position as CEO, and he founded Starfish Software.[17]
Kahn encouraged a collegial and hard-charging atmosphere at Borland, which attracted and cultivated technology leaders includingAnders Hejlsberg, creator of Turbo Pascal, andMarc Randolph, cofounder ofNetflix.
Starfish Software was founded in 1995 by Philippe Kahn as a spin-off from the Simplify business unit from Borland and Kahn's severance from Borland.[17] TrueSync was the first Over-The-Air (OTA) synchronization system. Starfish was successfully acquired byMotorola for US$325 million in 1998.[16]
Kahn and his wife Sonia co-founded multimedia messaging company LightSurf Technologies in 1998.[3] LightSurf commercialized Picture-Mail and the camera phone.[18]
In 2005, LightSurf was acquired byVerisign for US$300 million.[16]Syniverse Technologies acquired Lightsurf from Verisign in 2009.[19]
Fullpower, founded in 2005, provides a patented ecosystem for wearable andInternet of Things sensor-fusion solutions supporting networks of sensors. The company's expertise is sleep monitoring technology using sensors and artificial intelligence.[20]
The inspiration behind some of Fullpower's technology stems from Kahn's passion for sailing. During a demanding race requiring sailors to sleep less than an hour every 24-hour period, Kahn began experimenting with biosensors and three-axis linear accelerometers that could detect micromovements and provide meaningful recommendations. Kahn created prototype sleep trackers using biosensors that optimized 26-minute power naps to maximize sleep benefits and sail time.[21]
In 1997, Kahn created the firstcamera phone solution sharing pictures instantly on public networks. The impetus for this invention was the birth of Kahn's daughter.[22] He had been working for almost a year on a web server-based infrastructure for pictures, that he called Picture Mail.[23] At the hospital, while his wife was in labor, Kahnjury-rigged a connection between a mobile phone and a digital camera and sent off photos in real time to the picture messaging infrastructure he had running in his home.[24][25][26] Kahn later said "I had always wanted to have this all working in time to share my daughter's birth photo, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it. It's always the case that if it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done."[27]
In 2016Time magazine included Kahn's first camera phone photo in their list of the 100 most influential photos of all time.[28] In 2017, Subconscious Films created a short film recreating the day that Philippe instantly shared the first camera-phone photo of the birth of his daughter Sophie.[29]
Under Kahn's direction,Borland became the first software company to offer domestic partners full benefits and a pioneer for gay rights in Silicon Valley. Kahn was a key speaker at the pivotal gay rights conference on theApple campus on October 19, 1993.[30]
Kahn has four children, Laura, Estelle, Samuel and Sophie. He later marriedSonia Lee, with whom he has a daughter, Sophie.[31][6] Sonia co-founded three of Kahn's companies with him: Fullpower Technologies, LightSurf and Starfish Software.
Philippe Kahn's focus on the environment and the outdoors led him to the sport of sailing. A comparatively late starter, he found success within a few years winning multiple races. He declared, "I have to learn how to sail before I die."[32] As a result he found himself drawn toSanta Cruz, California: "I tell people, if you love sailing, you'll love Santa Cruz."[32]
Kahn's sailing team, Pegasus Racing, has competed in numerous international world championships. An offshore sailor with over 10 trans-Pacific crossings, Kahn holds the Transpac double handed (two-crewmember) record from San Francisco to Oahu, Hawaii.[33]
His sailing achievements also include winning the double handed division of the 2009Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii and setting the Transpac record at 7 days, 19 hours, beating the previous time of 10 days, 4 hours.[21]
Kahn's son Samuel ("Shark") also took up sailing as a boy.[34] In his teenage years he had several outstanding race wins, including the 2003Melges 24 Worlds race right after he turned 15.[35] He has competed against his father.[36]
Kahn and his wife Sonia run the Lee-Kahn Foundation.[3][37] According to the foundation's website, it sponsors local and national non-profit organizations focused on environmental causes and works to improve access to health care, education, and the arts.[38]
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