Name Robin Saxby Awards Faraday Medal | Role Chief executive | |
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Institutions ARM HoldingsAcorn ComputersRank Bush MurphyPye Ltd.MotorolaHenderson SecurityEuropean Silicon Structures Spouse Patricia Bell (m. 1970) People also search for Lee Smith, David Seal, Andy Merritt | ||
Organizations founded ARM Holdings | ||
Sir robin saxby first arm ceo and chairman
Sir Robin Keith Saxby (born 4 February 1947) FREng FRS is an engineer who was Chief Executive and then Chairman of ARM Holdings which he built to become a dominant supplier of embedded systems.
Contents
- Sir robin saxby first arm ceo and chairman
- Robin saxby hard work fun
- Early life and education
- Career
- Honours and awards
- Personal life
- References
Robin saxby hard work fun
Early life and education
Saxby was born in 1947 in Derbyshire and was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School, a boys' grammar school. He attended the University of Liverpool, where he gained a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics in 1968.
Career
Saxby had an electronics kit at the age of eight and a television repair business at the age of 14. Reflecting on this in 2006, he considered himself "destined for the electronics industry". He worked at Rank Bush Murphy, Pye, Motorola and Henderson Security. Immediately prior to his appointment at ARM, he worked at European Silicon Structures.
In 1991 he joined Cambridge-based ARM as their first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and built it to "a global giant" with offices round the world. He was Chief Executive from 1991-2001, and subsequently Chairman from 2001-2006. It was at ARM that he made his real impact on the electronic industry. When he was appointed CEO in 1991 he took 12 engineers from Acorn Computers into the newly formed joint venture between Acorn and Apple Inc. With a limited budget of a $1.5m investment from Apple he made those 12 engineers into one of the most formidable management teams in the industry. In a memorable early meeting he persuaded one of the engineers to volunteer to become the Vice president (VP) marketing, another the VP sales and so on. Saxby also introduced the licensing model for selling microprocessors which led to a 95% market share in the mobile phone sector. With a similar success in other sectors he has made ARM into the world's most successful processor company with over 50bn units shipped to date. During his 10 years as CEO he made ARM the most valuable company in the Cambridge cluster with a market capitalisation of over $10bn. ARM under his leadership became a global company with offices in many countries and licences taken by all significant semiconductor companies in the world. This is a unique achievement for a British company, especially in electronics.
Since his retirement from ARM he has become a tireless promoter of young entrepreneurs and is involved in a number of start-up companies which he supports with advice, finance and infinite patience. He has dedicated time to mentoring young entrepreneurs, helping them through difficult times and never losing faith in them.
Honours and awards
Saxby is a chartered engineer, an Honorary fellow of the FIET and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He has honorary doctorates from the University of Liverpool (where he is a visiting professor), Loughborough University, the University of Essex, Nottingham Trent University and Anglia Ruskin University.
He received the Faraday Medal of the IEE (now the IET). He was knighted in the 2002 New Year Honours List. He became President of the IET on 1 October 2006 and stepped down on 30 September 2007. In 2013 he presented the IET prestigious Pinkerton Lecture. He was President of the Old Cestrefeldians Society 2012/13. Saxby was elected a Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015.
Personal life
Saxby married Patricia Bell in 1970. They have a son and a daughter.