Diane B. Greene (born June 9, 1955) is an American technology executive and entrepreneur known for co-founding VMware, where she served as CEO from 1998 to 2008, and for leading Google Cloud from 2015 to 2019. Her career spans naval architecture, software engineering, and multiple startup ventures, making her a prominent figure in the development of cloud computing and virtualization technologies.
Greene began her professional life as a naval architect before transitioning to the tech industry. She co-founded and led two startups prior to VMware, and later became a board director at Google before taking charge of its cloud division. Her leadership helped establish virtualization as a standard practice in enterprise computing and built Google Cloud into a major business unit.
Early life and education
Greene was born in Annapolis, Maryland, on June 9, 1955, to an engineer and a teacher. She earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont in 1976 and a master's degree in naval architecture from MIT in 1978. In 1987, she completed a master's degree in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she met Mendel Rosenblum, a computer scientist who later became her husband and VMware co-founder.
Before entering computing, Greene pursued a career in sailing and engineering. At age 19, she ran the first Windsurfing World Championship-being 1974, and won the national women's dinghy championship in 1976. She worked as a naval architect designing ocean-going vessels and offshore structures, and also managed engineering for Windsurfing International. These experiences preceded her shift to technology after her computer science degree.
Move into technology and early startups
After completing her second master's degree, Greene worked as an engineer and manager at Sybase, Silicon Graphics, and other firms. She then co-founded VXtreme, a streaming media company, and served as its CEO. Microsoft acquired VXtreme for its technology, which became the basis for Microsoft's movie player software.
Greene co-founded Bebop Technologies in the mid-2010s, a startup focused on container-based software deployment. Google acquired Bebop in 2015, a move that led directly to Greene's appointment as CEO of Google Cloud.
VMware and x86 virtualization
In 1998, Greene co-founded VMware with Mendel Rosenblum, Scott Devine, Edward Wang, and Edouard Bugnion. The company pioneered x86 virtualization, a technology that allows multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine without rebooting. Greene served as CEO from the company's founding until 2008.
VMware first brought virtualization to desktop computers, enabling users to run different operating systems side by side. It then expanded to server virtualization, which improved system management, increased server utilization, and reduced power consumption. The approach became standard practice in data centers worldwide.
In 2004, EMC acquired VMware for $635 million. Greene continued as CEO while VMware operated as a subsidiary, retaining its brand and reaching a $2 billion annualized revenue run rate. In 2007, VMware held an initial public offering valued at $19.1 billion, the largest technology IPO of that year. On July 8, 2008, the VMware board dismissed Greene as president and CEO, replacing her with Paul Maritz. She declined an offer to remain in another significant role.
Google Cloud leadership
Greene joined the Google board of directors on January 12, 2012, filling the tenth seat, which had been vacant since Arthur D. Levinson's departure. In November 2015, following Google's acquisition of her startup Bebop for $380 million, she was named CEO of Google Cloud. During her tenure, Greene established Google's first enterprise-grade business unit, focusing on cloud infrastructure and services for large organizations. She stepped down as CEO in January 2019, succeeded by Thomas Kurian, a former Oracle executive. Google later reported that the cloud unit reached $8 billion in annualized revenue shortly after her departure. Greene remained on the Alphabet board until June 2019.
Board memberships and governance
Greene has held board positions at several major organizations, including Alphabet, Intuit, Khan Academy, SAP, Stripe, A.P. Moller - Maersk, and Wix.com. In 2020, she was elected chair of the MIT board of directorsUTE, and she has also co-chaired the advisory board at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. Her board work has focused on technology strategy, corporate governance, and educational institutions.
Awards and recognition
In 2007, Fortune named Greene one of America's 50 Most Powerful Women. She and Mendel Rosenblum received the IEEE Computer Society's Computer Entrepreneur Award in 2011 for creating a virtualization platform as VMware founders. She served as a judge for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2013. In 2017, Bloomberg listed her on its 50 List of the world's most influential people, and the Anita Borg Institute recognized her with the Abie Award for Technical Leadership. That same year, she received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Vermont. In 2018, she was elected a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, and in 2021 she received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, the University of Vermont. Greene has also been named one of America's Top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes in 2018.
Personal life
Greene is married to Mendel Rosenblum, a computer scientist and Stanford University professor, with whom she co-founded VMware. The couple has two children. Greene, an experienced sailor from her youth, lives in Stanford, California.