Robert F. Smith

Entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist Robert F. Smith is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners (Vista). Vista is a global technology investor that specializes in enterprise software. Smith is the Chairman of Carnegie Hall, the founding director and President of Fund II Foundation and the Chairman of Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), a non-profit that offers an alternative to traditional private loan options, student-centric resources and more to select STEM students. SFI was founded in 2020 following Smith’s Morehouse College commencement address, during which he pledged to eliminate the student loan debt of nearly 400 Morehouse College graduates. This pledge was later expanded to include the student loan debt held by their guardians on their behalf. Smith also co-leads Southern Communities Initiative (SCI), a consortium of companies with a single mission: to accelerate wealth creation and economic growth in six Southern U.S. communities. In recognition of Smith’s philanthropy and business accolades, in 2017, Forbes named him one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.