Omid Kordestani Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Omid Kordestani
امید کردستانی
Kordestani at the Web 2.0 Conference, 2005
Born	1963 (age 61–62) Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	San Jose State University (BS) Stanford University (MBA)

Omid R. Kordestani (Persian: امید کردستانی; born in 1963) is an Iranian-American businessman. He was the executive chairman at Twitter from October 2015 to June 2020. He also served on Twitter's board of directors until October 2022.

Before Twitter, Omid was a special advisor to the chief executive officer and founders at Google. He held this role from July 2014 to October 2015. He was also a director at Vodafone from March 2013 to October 2014. Omid had a long history with Google, working there from May 1999 to April 2009. During that time, he became the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations.

Early Life and Education
Career Highlights
Community Involvement
Personal Life
See also

Early Life and Education

Omid Kordestani was born in Tehran, Iran. He went to a school called Andisheh Don Bosco School in Tehran. This was an Italian Catholic school that focused on good education and learning languages.

In 1976, after his father passed away, Omid moved to San Jose, California. He finished high school in 1980 at Buchser High School in Santa Clara, California.

Later, he earned a degree in electrical engineering from San Jose State University. After college, he started working as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard. A few years later, he decided to study business. He went to Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in 1991.

Career Highlights

Omid Kordestani has over a decade of experience in high-tech companies. He held important roles at Netscape Communications, which was a very important internet company early on.

Working at Netscape

At Netscape, Omid was the vice president of Business Development and Sales. He helped Netscape's online business grow a lot, increasing its yearly earnings from websites significantly in just 18 months. He started at Netscape as the director of OEM Sales. During his four years there, he built strong relationships with major companies. These included Citibank, AOL, Amazon, Intuit, Travelocity, Intel, @Home, eBay, and Excite. Before Netscape, Omid worked in marketing, product management, and business development at other companies like The 3DO Company, Go Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard.

Time at Google

Omid joined Google in May 1999. He was key in creating Google's first business plan. He also led Google's worldwide sales and operations until April 2009. He helped Google earn money around the world and managed the daily work of the company's sales teams.

In July 2014, Omid returned to Google. He became the Chief Business Officer after Nikesh Arora left. Omid had actually helped recruit Nikesh to Google years before. Omid's role was first temporary, but it became permanent in October 2014.

Leadership at Twitter

On October 14, 2015, Omid left Google to become the Executive Chairman at Twitter. He held this important leadership role until June 2020. At that time, Patrick Pichette took over his position. Omid remained a member of Twitter's board of directors until the board was dissolved in October 2022.

In December 2021, Omid Kordestani was named chairman of the Board at Pearson plc, a large education company. His role officially started in March 2022. In August 2024, he filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X Corp (the company that owns Twitter) regarding unpaid stock options after the Twitter board was dissolved.

Community Involvement

Omid Kordestani was one of the people who started the PARSA Community Foundation. This foundation, active from 2006 to 2011, supported Iranian culture, heritage, and new businesses. It also focused on helping others through charity work.

Personal Life

Omid Kordestani has two children with his former spouse, Bita Daryabari. He also has three children with Gisel Kordestani, whom he married in 2011.

In May 2006, Time Magazine recognized Omid Kordestani as one of the "100 People who shape our world." In 2007, he was chosen as the Persian Person of the Year by Persian Awards.

Omid Kordestani facts for kids

Contents