Pierluigi Zappacosta

Italian businessman

Pierluigi Zappacosta

Pierluigi Zappacosta in 2008

Born|  (1950-07-02) July 2, 1950 (age 73)

Chieti, Italy

Known for| being one of the three founders of Logitech
Children| 3, including Marco Zappacosta

Pierluigi Zappacosta (born Chieti, Italy, on July 2, 1950) is an Italian businessman and chairman of Faro Ventures.[1] He has co-founded, directed, and served on the boards of several prestigious companies, including Logitech and Sierra Sciences.

## Career[edit]

In 1981, he co-founded Logitech[2] (Nasdaq: LOGI) together with Daniel Borel and Giacomo Marini, which went on to become the world's largest manufacturer of computer mice and other personal interface products.[3] Zappacosta served at Logitech for sixteen years, first as president and CEO and later as vice-chairman.[4] He was instrumental in taking the company public in Switzerland in 1988 and on NASDAQ in 1997, raising over $60 million. By the time Zappacosta left in 1998, sales of Logitech had risen to over $400 million per year.

Zappacosta is also a venture partner with Noventi,[5] and served as CEO at Sierra Sciences,[6] and chairman at Digital Persona, Inc., a company offering software and hardware[7] for identification based on biometrics.[8] He also sits on the board of trustees of the Reason Foundation[9] and of the Bruno Leoni Institute.

## Education[edit]

He received his bachelor's degree (laurea in electrical engineering) from the University of Rome in Italy, graduating cum laude. He earned his master's degree in computer science from Stanford in 1978.[10]

## Personal life[edit]

Zappacosta's son, Marco Zappacosta, is the co-founder and CEO of the unicorn company Thumbtack.[11][12]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Pierluigi Zappacosta". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
2. ^ "Leadership". CHM. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
3. ^ "UPDATE 1-Logitech shares surge on talk of Microsoft bid". Reuters. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
4. ^ "pierluigi zappacosta". web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
5. ^ http://www.noventivc.com/pierluigi_zappacosta.htm Archived 2013-10-13 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ "SIERRA SCIENCES STAFF". Sierra Sciences. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
7. ^ "DigitalPersona Inc - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
8. ^ "Crossmatch is now HID Global". HID Global. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
9. ^ Reason Foundation - Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2008-01-31 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ "The Hive Group - Operational Treemaps". www.hivegroup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
11. ^ Townsend, Tess (2015-09-30). "The CEO of the Latest Unicorn Can't Stand the Term 'Unicorn'". Inc.com. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
12. ^ "Italy Has Found a New Young Hero in Silicon Valley: Marco Zappacosta". SAN FRANCISCO, ITALY. Retrieved 2021-08-21.

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