George Kurtz, the billionaire CEO of CrowdStrike, has seen his fortune take a hit due to a tech outage caused by his company’s faulty software update. As of 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Kurtz’s net worth has dropped by about $300 million, with CrowdStrike stock plunging 11% since Thursday’s close. This has brought his estimated fortune down to around $2.9 billion from over $3.2 billion.
The majority of Kurtz’s wealth is tied up in CrowdStrike stock, of which he owns more than 3%. Since co-founding the cybersecurity company in 2012, Kurtz has seen significant growth in his net worth, with the stock value quadrupling since the company’s IPO in 2019. CrowdStrike’s annual recurring revenue surpassed $3.4 billion in its most recent fiscal year, illustrating its success in meeting the growing demand for cybersecurity solutions.
The tech outage was caused by a faulty file sent during an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor product, impacting millions of Microsoft computers worldwide. This resulted in devices running Windows becoming inoperable, forcing both the company and the tech industry to work diligently to rectify the situation. CrowdStrike has since released a statement assuring customers that the issue has been identified and a solution has been shared.
Kurtz has a strong background in cybersecurity, having worked in the industry for many years before co-founding CrowdStrike. Originally from Parsippany, New Jersey, Kurtz studied accounting at Seton Hall University and later held cybersecurity-related roles at consulting firms PWC and Ernst and Young. He founded security consulting firm Foundstone in 1999 before selling it to McAfee in 2004 for $90 million. Following his time at McAfee, Kurtz co-founded CrowdStrike in 2012 and took it public in 2019.
Despite the significant drop in his fortune, Kurtz remains wealthy, with CrowdStrike stock valued at around $2.5 billion. In addition to his financial success, Kurtz is an accomplished race car driver, having won the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2019. CrowdStrike, the company he leads, is also the official cybersecurity partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, which was impacted by the tech outage on Friday. While the incident has had financial repercussions for Kurtz, he continues to be a prominent figure in the cybersecurity industry.
