The South African behind Microsoft Windows

Paul Maritz’s introduction to computers was through an experimental course in computer science at the former University of Natal (now part of UKZN).

“I got bitten by the bug,” Maritz said in a 1999 New York Times interview.

“I found that programming was an activity that could occupy your whole mind for long periods of time, and give you great satisfaction at the end of it because you have produced something.”

His fascination with computers ultimately led him to Silicon Valley at the height of the personal computer boom.

Maritz spent fourteen years at Microsoft, ascending to the role of Group Vice President for Platforms and Applications, where he was responsible for Windows 95, Windows NT, Internet Explorer, Exchange, SQL Server, and Development Tools.

His position also involved overseeing Microsoft Office, which included Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

He was regarded as the number three executive at Microsoft — right behind Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Although he was born in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia, which formed part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland), Maritz spent many of his formative years in South Africa.

His family had a cattle farm in Zimbabwe, which he remembered did not have a reliable electricity supply.

They moved to South Africa when he was a teenager, and he completed his schooling at Highbury Preparatory in Hillcrest near Durban, followed by Hilton College.

This led him to the University of Natal and its experimental computer science course.

He graduated with a B.Sc in mathematics and computer science from the University of Natal. He then went to the University of Cape Town to complete his honours — also in mathematics and computer science.

When he finished university, Maritz travelled to London to find a job in the computer industry.

Fitting all his possessions into a backpack and staying in a £5 per night bed and breakfast, he knocked on doors until a company called Burroughs gave him a programming job.

Maritz later became a researcher at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

In 1981, he landed a job at Intel.

Maritz moved to Silicon Valley and spent five years building some of the early tools to help developers write software for Intel’s relatively new x86 platform at the time.

Intel introduced its first 32-bit 80386 chips in 1985, which came to dominate personal computing for decades.

The following year, Maritz joined Microsoft.

He left the company in September 2000 after shipping the hit new version of Windows NT, called Windows 2000, in February of that year.

When Maritz left, Microsoft was set to launch the poorly received Windows ME in September.

Maritz became highly regarded in the world of high technology during his time at Microsoft.

An unnamed tech executive told the New York Times in 1999 that “Maritz is not on the hothead list, and that’s not a short list at Microsoft.”

Within Microsoft, Ballmer described Maritz as “a leader among leaders”, while Gates said that his vision and technological insight had a major impact on the entire computer industry.

Gordon Eubanks, who served as Symantec CEO for 15 years, was also impressed by Maritz.

“He is pragmatic, someone with tremendous gray matter, and I’ve always found him to be a man of genuine integrity,” Eubanks said.

After Microsoft, Maritz went on to found Pi Corporation, an early cloud company that was acquired by EMC in 2008.

He then joined VMware as CEO and served until 2012. Under his watch, VMWare’s revenues tripled.

In 2013, Maritz was tipped as a potential candidate to replace Steve Ballmer as Microsoft CEO. However, the job ultimately went to Satya Nadella.

Maritz instead founded Pivotal Software, a cloud platform hosting and consulting services company.

He stepped down as CEO of Pivotal in 2016, remaining on as chairman and member of the board until 2018. Pivotal was merged into Broadcom in 2023.

An active investor, Maritz has served on the boards of several start-ups.

He has also been active in non-profits, previously serving on the board of the Grameen Foundation for ten years. He also has an active interest in supporting education and wildlife conservation in Africa.

Maritz was appointed chairman of the board of Acronis in 2021, where he still serves despite describing himself as “semi-retired”.