Robert F. Smith

Founder, Chairman & CEO at Vista Equity Partners

Interviewee

Robert F. Smith is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners (Vista), a leading global asset manager. Vista exclusively invests in enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses through private equity, permanent capital, credit and public equity strategies. Mr. Smith sits on the Investment Committees for Vista’s Flagship, Foundation, Endeavor and Perennial Funds and serves as a member of Vista’s Executive Committee, the firm’s governing and decision-making body for matters affecting its overall management and strategic direction.

Prior to founding Vista, Mr. Smith earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Cornell University and worked at Goodyear Tire and Kraft Foods. He later received his MBA from Columbia Business School and joined the tech investment practice at Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Smith was listed as one of Forbes’ 100 Greatest Living Business Minds in 2017 and was named to TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2020. He is a member of the Texas Business Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

Mr. Smith is the Founding Director and President of the Fund II Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving the African American experience, human rights, environmental conservation, and a broad range of other initiatives. In 2019, Mr. Smith announced he would cover the student loans of nearly 400 Morehouse College graduates in a commencement address. After his Morehouse pledge, Mr. Smith founded the Student Freedom Initiative to help relieve student debt for STEM students at HBCUs.

Mr. Smith is a strong advocate for the 2% Solution – calling on corporations to commit 2% of their annual net income to empower minority communities. He also helps lead the Southern Communities Initiative to advance racial equity in six Southern communities that are home to half of all Black people in the United States.