Robert F. Smith: Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners - One of the World's Most Successful PE Firms

During our interview, Robert F. Smith describes his upbringing in Denver, CO, and how he secured his first work experience at Bell Labs while he was still in high school. Smith also explains how his education at Cornell University and Columbia Business School allowed him to merge his dual interests of engineering and finance.

Smith describes working in technology at Goldman Sachs, which included advising a then-troubled Apple as it pivoted to become a platform technology company. He explains his decision to leave and found Vista in 2000.

Smith also explains why software has been the most productive economic tool in the last 50 years, why our current era is known as the 4th Industrial Revolution and what “digitization” means. He provides examples of how his businesses have prospered, why their growth trajectory is still so exciting and how software companies are reshaping supply chains and industries. He discusses the merits of private equity versus a public listing, the huge gains investors have made in their funds and why he believes the investment opportunities are still significant.

Beyond his work at Vista, Smith talks about his philanthropic work, his view on reaching communities that lack access to opportunities and what needs to be done and committed to create lasting change for good. Smith regularly partakes in philanthropic endeavours. Notably, in 2023, Smith received the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award and, in 2024, was named one of The Diversity, Equity & Inclusive Capitalism (DEIC) Power 100 Icons. In 2022, he was honored with the Grio’s Philanthropy Icon Award. 

Smith serves as the Chairman of Carnegie Hall and Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), a nonprofit that collaborates with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to empower students in their personal and career choices. In addition, Smith co-leads Southern Communities Initiative (SCI), a catalytic program that works to advance racial equity across six Southern communities that represent more than 50% of the Black population in the U.S.

Learn more about Smith by following him on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram and by subscribing to his YouTube channel.