Technology >> CEO Interviews >> May 4, 1998
During his career, he has spearheaded the raising of hundreds of
millions in investment capital. He has served as chairman of the Hoover
Institution's Council on Economic Development and as a strategic advisor
to the Russian government on the transition to capitalism. In 1993, he
received the San Jose State University 'Alumni Award of Distinction' and
is the recipient of the Santa Clara University 1994 'Distinguished
Engineering Alumni Award.' He received a BSEE Cum Laude from California
State University, an MSEE from Santa Clara University and an MBA from
the University of San Francisco. He later became an alumnus of
Stanford's Graduate School of Business through their Executive Program.
He has been the subject of articles in 'Forbes,' 'Business Week,'
'Venture,' 'Wall Street Journal,' 'Computer Marketing' and 'Electronic
Week.' He has appeared on 'Venture Point' and 'Window on Wall Street'
television programs. He is listed in 'The International Directory of
Distinguished Leadership', 'Men of Achievement' and 'Who's Who' in: 'the
Computer Industry', 'California', 'Finance and Industry', 'Science and
Engineering', 'American Business Leaders' and 'Worldwide.' Mr. LaPine's
accomplishments have been chronicled in numerous business books
including 'The Third Century,' 'High Technology Start-Ups' and 'Overseas
Business.' Profile
ANTHONY N. LAPINE's career began at IBM where his technical achievements
earned him numerous patents and 'outstanding contribution' awards. His
Data Synchronization invention (Patent 3,701,039) remains the state of
the art in today's disk drive. In 1969, he was recruited as one of the
founders of Memorex's Equipment Group where he was instrumental in
giving birth to the FLOPPY DISK DRIVE, a cornerstone of today's PC
revolution. After raising $75 million, the company's stock peaked at
$175 a share. He subsequently played a major role in Memorex's historic
turnaround, relisting Memorex on the New York Stock Exchange- the only
company ever relisted. This is now chronicled as one of the greatest
corporate rescues in history, and a classic case study at the Harvard
Business School. After spearheading the company's first BILLION dollar
revenue year, he was instrumental in the sale of Memorex to Burroughs,
now Unisys. In 1981, Mr. Lapine was recruited to re-engineer
Irwin/Olivetti where he orchestrated the invention of the FIRST
removable cartridge tape backup in personal computers. This development
opened a new billion dollar market catapulting the company to
profitability and a public offering. In 1983, he formed LaPine
Technology, raising $30 million and launched the new 3-1/2 inch
Winchester disk drive technology which has become a $50 billion
industry. He led his company's growth to a profitable $60 million in
sales before selling the company to his alliance partners, Prudential
and Kyocera, in 1987. A 'Forbes' article featured this unique three-way
alliance and its impressive Board of Directors that included computer
pioneer, Gene Amdahl, and Kyocera's illustrious founder, Kazo Inamori.
The company was valued at $234 million. Prudential ultimately made $184
million on its investment of $13 million. After the sale of LaPine
Technology, he formed the LaPine Group, a private investment and
turnaround management firm which has achieved wide recognition for its
successes. He most recently served as CEO of Andor International, a
company launched by the legendary Gene Amdahl. After reorganizing the
company Mr. LaPine negotiated its sale to the Fortel Group where he now
serves as Chairman. He is also a technology expert for major law firms
and government agencies on intellectual property matters. He lectures in
the Graduate School of Business at the University of San Francisco, is a
member of the National Arbitrators and a Public Arbitrator of the
Pacific Stock Exchange. Mr. LaPine is a 40 year resident of Silicon
Valley. Since 1981, he has been a member of 20 corporate boards for
companies whose products or services span a broad spectrum of
industries. Profile
of your company?
Mr. LaPine: DataLink is a new age information company. I emphasize new
age because DataLink is
