Gil Shwed

Gil Shwed (Hebrew: גיל שויד; born 1968)^[1][2] is an Israeli software engineer and entrepreneur.^[3][4] He is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Check Point, one of Israel's largest technology companies and the world's largest pure-play cybersecurity company.^[5][4] Shwed was CEO from 1994 until 2024, the longest tenure for a Nasdaq-listed company.^[6]

Gil Shwed גיל שויד‎
Speaking at the 2021 World Economic Forum
Born	1968 (age 56–57) Jerusalem, Israel
Occupation(s)	Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board, Check Point Software Technologies

He is considered the inventor of the modern computer firewall.

Early life

Shwed was born in Jerusalem.^[7] He started programming at the age of 13, and two years later began studying computer sciences at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, while he was still in high-school.^[4]

During his military service he was part of the Intelligence Corps' Unit 8200.^[8] Afterwards, Shwed joined the Israeli startup company Optrotech (currently Orbotech), where he worked as a Software Developer.

Career

In 1993, Shwed founded Check Point with Shlomo Kramer, Shwed's friend from the military unit, and Marius Nacht with whom he worked at Optrotech.^[4]

That year, Shwed invented and patented stateful inspection,^[9] which was the basis for the first version of the company's renowned FireWall-1, released in 1994.^[10] Stateful Inspection is still widely used in network firewalls today.^[11]

1994 Shwed became the chief executive officer and director of Check Point. He previously was president of Check Point and chairman of the board.^[12] As of 2018, Shwed is the leading shareholder in Checkpoint, owning 19.1% of the company, with an estimated worth of US$3.4 billion. The second largest shareholder in Check Point is US investment company Massachusetts Financial Services with a 7.7% stake worth $1.3 billion at present.^[13]

Shwed and Check Point emphasize the "fifth generation" of cybersecurity, addressing the underlying issues behind such vulnerabilities as the WannaCry and NotPetya security breaches in 2017.^[14][15] He has stated that enterprise businesses are "two generations behind" in their security thinking, and describes the industry as being at an "inflection point."^[16]

As of January 27, 2024, Forbes listed Gil Shwed net worth at US$4.38 billion, ranking him 682 on the Billionaires list^[17] and he was ranked 9th among the top wealthiest people in Israel.^[18]

In 2024, Shwed stepped down as CEO and became Executive Chairman of the Board.^[19]

Boards

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Tel Aviv University and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Youth University of Tel Aviv University.^[1] He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Yeholot Association founded by the Rashi Foundation whose charter is, among other things, to reduce dropout rates in high schools.^[1]

Acknowledgments

He received an honorary doctorate from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in June 2005.^[20]

In 2002, Shwed received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award at a ceremony in Dublin, Ireland, for his innovative contribution to business and technology.^[21][22]

Globes honored Shwed as their "Person of the Year" in 2014.^[23]

In 2018, Shwed was the recipient of the first-ever Israel Prize in technology.^[21][24][25]