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 is known for his important roles at big tech companies like Google and Twitter. From 2015 to 2020, he was the executive chairman at Twitter. Before that, he was a senior leader and special advisor at Google. He also served on the board of Vodafone.

Early Life and School

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

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

Later, he earned a degree in electrical engineering from San Jose State University. He then started working as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard. After a few years, 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 in Technology

Omid Kordestani has worked in the technology world for many years. He held key positions at Netscape Communications, which was one of the first big internet companies.

Growing Netscape's Business

At Netscape, Omid was the vice president of Business Development and Sales. He helped Netscape's website income grow a lot in just 18 months. He started at Netscape as a director, helping to build important relationships with major companies. These included Citibank, AOL, Amazon, Intuit, Travelocity, Intel, @Home, eBay, and Excite. Before Netscape, Omid worked in marketing and product development at other companies like The 3DO Company, Go Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard.

Leading Sales at Google

Omid joined Google in May 1999. He helped create Google's first business plan. He became Google's senior vice president of worldwide sales and field operations. In this role, he was in charge of how Google made money around the world. He also managed the daily work of Google's sales teams until April 2009.

Return to Google and Twitter

In July 2014, Omid came back to Google. He became the Chief Business Officer after another leader, Nikesh Arora, left. Omid had actually helped recruit Nikesh to Google. Omid's role became permanent in October 2014.

On October 14, 2015, Omid left Google to become the Executive Chairman at Twitter. He held this important leadership role until June 2020. He stayed on Twitter's board of directors until October 2022.

In December 2021, Omid Kordestani was named chairman of the Board at Pearson plc, a large education company. He started this role in March 2022.

Giving Back

Omid Kordestani helped start the PARSA Community Foundation. This group, active from 2006 to 2011, supported Iranian culture, heritage, and new businesses. It also focused on helping others through charity.

Personal Life and Recognition

Omid Kordestani has two children from his first marriage and two children from his marriage to Gisel Kordestani, whom he married in 2011.

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

See also

In Spanish: Omid Kordestani para niños

• List of Iranian Americans
• Pierre Omidyar
• Parisa Tabriz
• Roozbeh Pournader