Legendary Silicon Valley Mentor Bill Campbell Dies at 75
April 18 2016 - 4:21PM
Dow Jones News
By Jay Greene
Bill Campbell, a legendary mentor to some of Silicon Valley's
most important entrepreneurs and executives including Steve Jobs
and Larry Page, died Monday morning at age 75. He had been
suffering from cancer.
Mr. Campbell, who served as president, chief executive and
chairman of financial software maker Intuit Inc., became far better
known for advising tech leaders. That activity earned him the
nickname, "The Coach."
Alphabet Inc. executive chairman Eric Schmidt recalled
Campbell's work in the early days of Google. "My immediate reaction
was, why would I need a coach?" Mr. Schmidt said Monday morning in
an interview. But Mr. Campbell had "extraordinary insight" into
people, Mr. Schmidt said. When a meeting started, he embraced
everyone in the room.
Mr. Campbell had an uncanny ability to pick leaders for jobs at
the company, Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Campbell helped compose the
company's board of directors, as well as building the company's
culture.
Campbell gave his mentorship for free because he wanted to give
back to the tech world and help others, Mr. Schmidt said.
Mr. Campbell's guidance extended beyond the corner office and
the boardroom. Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture-capital firm
Andreessen Horowitz, joined the chorus of eulogies on Monday.
"Whenever I struggled with life, Bill was the person that I called,
Mr. Horowitz wrote in a post on the online publication Medium. "I
didn't call him, because he would have the answer to some
impossible question. I called him, because he would understand what
I was feeling 100%. He would understand me. I have never known
anyone else who could do that like Bill."
One of Mr. Campbell's closest relationships in tech was with
Apple Inc. He and Mr. Jobs were like brothers, Mr. Schmidt
said.
Mr. Campbell joined Apple during Mr. Jobs' initial stint at the
company, serving as vice president of marketing starting in 1983.
He joined Apple's board shortly after Mr. Jobs returned to the
company in 1997 and remained a director for 17 years, stepping down
in 2014
"Bill Campbell was a coach and mentor to many of us at Apple,
and a member of our family for decades as an executive, advisor and
ultimately a member of our board," Apple said in a statement
Monday. "He believed in Apple when few people did and his
contributions to our company, through good times and bad, cannot be
overstated."
Mr. Campbell acted discreetly when Apple quarreled with Google
over the latter's development of the Android operating system,
which threatened Apple's iPhone business. Determined not to appear
to favor one side over the other, he arranged for former Google
Senior Vice President Alan Eustace to chat with Mr. Jobs about the
matter.
One of Mr. Campbell's earliest coaching roles was as head
football coach at his alma mater, Columbia University, in the
1970s.
He made his way to Intuit, serving as its president and chief
executive officer from 1994 to 1998, and as acting chief executive
officer from September 1999 until January 2000. He joined Intuit's
board in 1994 and became chairman in 1998. He stepped down from the
board four months ago.
"Without Bill we would not be who we are today," Scott Cook,
Intuit's co-founder and chairman of its executive committee, said
in a statement. "I don't think anyone had an impact as important
and far-reaching on Silicon Valley's leaders and culture. He made
us all better. The world just dimmed."
Mr. Campbell is survived by his wife, Eileen Bocci Campbell, and
two adult children, Jim Campbell and Margaret Campbell.
--Daisuke Wakabayashi contributed to this article.
Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 18, 2016 16:06 ET (20:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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