Blog
CEO Factfile: Charles Phillips
Away from politicians, CEO’s are some of the most powerful and high profile people in the World, running major corporations that impact our daily lives and having a huge impact on our economies. These high-fliers are some of the most intelligent and forward thinking people on the planet and today we are here to take a look at what makes such a person. Our fact file today is on the CEO of enterprise applications provider Infor, Charles Phillips to see where he came from and how he rose to such heights.
Early Life
Born in 1959 in Little Rock, Arkansas, his father was stationed there with the U.S. Air Force and he and his parents and 3 brothers often moved from state to state as a result of his father’s position. Charles, by his own admission, had a great deal of interest in computing from a very early age, Charles would spend his time during his school years building and re-building computers and other technological equipment, a skill that would later serve him well.
Career
Charles would follow in his father’s footsteps and sign up to the Air Force, during his time there he earned a BS in computer science although was forced to leave the Air Force on medical grounds. It was then that Chris joined up with the U.S Marines where he worked on computer systems and rose to the rank of Captain. Upon leaving the Marines Philips earned an MBA at Hampton University before going on to New York Law School where he graduated with a JD.
In 1994 following stints at 3 software companies where he became Senior Vice-President twice, Charles joined financial services company Morgan Stanley where he worked as an enterprise-software industry analyst, so successful was he that during the years of 1994-2003 Institutional Investor ranked him as the best analyst in the industry every year. His aggressive and forward thinking approach got him promoted to managing director in Morgan Stanley, a position he held until 2003.
In 2003 Charles joined the software technology company Oracle, taking on the role of co-president before becoming the director. Phillips headed up the sales and acquisitions team and successfully completed over 70 acquisitions and mergers, overseeing growth in the company of more than 300%. The industry was taking notice of Charles Phillips and his negation skills and industry contacts made him stand out amongst the rest.
In 2010 Phillips left Oracle to become CEO at enterprise applications company Infor, he continued where he had left off with Oracle, successfully negotiating large acquisitions within the space of just a few short months. In Charles Phillips role as CEO he switched his attentions to smaller and more niche acquisitions with Infor to be able to compete with the likes of SAP and his old company, Oracle. Forever forward thinking, Charles Phillips announced in 2014 the launch of Infor’s Cloudsuite, the first of its kind that would give companies greater access to a whole range of business-centric applications.
Personality
Despite the size of his reputation and his net worth, Phillips remains a kind and unassuming man, a self-confessed geek who “loves gadgets” and who still finds that the subway is the
fastest and best way to travel. Phillips devotes much of his time to philanthropy, specifically his own Philips Charitable Organization amongst others.
Comments