George Kurtz

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George Kurtz
George Kurtz
Born14 10, 1970
BirthplaceNew Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationCEO and co-founder of CrowdStrike; co-owner and strategic advisor of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team; racing driver
Known forCo-founding CrowdStrike; co-authoring Hacking Exposed; founding Foundstone
AwardsFortune 100 Most Powerful People in Business (2024)
Website[https://www.crowdstrike.com/george-kurtz/ Official site]

George Kurtz (born October 14, 1970) is an American entrepreneur, cybersecurity executive, and racing driver who serves as the chief executive officer and co-founder of CrowdStrike, one of the largest cybersecurity technology companies in the world. His career in information security spans more than three decades, beginning with early work in vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, and extending through leadership roles at Foundstone and McAfee before the creation of CrowdStrike in 2011. Kurtz co-authored Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, a widely referenced cybersecurity text that helped shape industry practices in vulnerability management and penetration testing. Prior to CrowdStrike, he founded Foundstone, a security consulting and products firm that was acquired by McAfee in 2004, after which Kurtz rose to the position of chief technology officer at McAfee.[1][2] In November 2025, Kurtz became a co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, serving as a technology adviser and steering-committee member.[3] Outside of the corporate world, Kurtz is a FIA Bronze-rated racing driver who has competed in endurance events including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa.

Early Life

George Kurtz was born on October 14, 1970, in New Jersey.[4] He grew up in the Parsippany area of northern New Jersey. Details about his family background and childhood have not been extensively documented in public sources. According to a 2014 profile in the Asbury Park Press, Kurtz developed an interest in computers and security technology at an early age, an interest that would eventually guide his academic and professional trajectory into the nascent field of information security.[4]

Kurtz came of age during a period in which personal computing was transforming both business and culture, and cybersecurity as a formal discipline was still in its infancy. His early fascination with technology led him to pursue formal education in a related field, and he would go on to build his career at the intersection of technology, security, and entrepreneurship.

Education

Kurtz attended Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree.[5] His studies provided a foundation in the technical and analytical skills that would underpin his subsequent work in cybersecurity. After completing his undergraduate education, Kurtz entered the information security industry, initially working in accounting and consulting roles before focusing on security technology and vulnerability assessment.[4]

Career

Early Career and Foundstone

Kurtz began his professional career as a certified public accountant (CPA), working at PricewaterhouseCoopers before transitioning into the cybersecurity field.[4] During the late 1990s, he became involved in security research and consulting, and co-authored Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, a book that became one of the most widely referenced texts in the cybersecurity profession. The book addressed vulnerability assessment and penetration testing methodologies and helped define practices that became standard in the industry.

Kurtz founded Foundstone, a cybersecurity consulting and products company that specialized in vulnerability management, incident response, and security training. Foundstone developed tools and services that assisted organizations in identifying and remediating security weaknesses across their networks. The company gained recognition for its contributions to the emerging field of vulnerability management, and Kurtz has been credited with helping to create the conceptual framework, terminology, and workflows that became central to the discipline.[5]

In 2004, McAfee (now part of Intel Security and later re-established as McAfee) acquired Foundstone, incorporating its vulnerability management capabilities into McAfee's broader product portfolio.[1] The acquisition marked the beginning of a new phase in Kurtz's career within one of the largest security software companies in the world.

McAfee

Following the acquisition of Foundstone, Kurtz joined McAfee and rose through the company's leadership ranks. He was named executive vice president and chief technology officer of McAfee, a role in which he oversaw the company's technology strategy and product development.[2] During his tenure as CTO, Kurtz became a prominent voice in the cybersecurity industry, commenting publicly on emerging threats and the evolving landscape of cyber attacks.

In 2010, Kurtz was involved in McAfee's response to high-profile attacks, including a series of intrusions known as "Operation Aurora" that targeted major corporations including Google. In an interview with GCN (Government Computer News), Kurtz discussed the implications of these attacks and the need for more sophisticated security architectures.[6] He also raised awareness about a threat campaign dubbed "Night Dragon," which targeted energy companies, warning about the emergence of combined and persistent cyber threats.[7]

Kurtz departed McAfee in October 2011.[8][9] His exit from the company, along with other senior departures during the same period, was noted by industry observers as a significant transition for McAfee.[8]

Founding of CrowdStrike

In 2011, Kurtz co-founded CrowdStrike alongside Dmitri Alperovitch and Gregg Marston. The company was officially launched in February 2012 with $26 million in initial funding.[10][11] The company emerged from stealth mode with the stated mission of transforming cybersecurity through a cloud-native platform that could detect and prevent breaches in real time, leveraging artificial intelligence, behavioral analytics, and threat intelligence.

Kurtz and his co-founders conceived CrowdStrike as a response to what they saw as fundamental limitations in existing cybersecurity approaches, particularly the reliance on signature-based antivirus software and on-premises security infrastructure. As Kurtz described in a 2012 interview with GeekWire, the company aimed to "obliterate" security threats through a fundamentally different architectural approach.[12] The company's Falcon platform was built as a cloud-delivered solution, representing a departure from the traditional model of deploying on-premises security appliances and software.

CrowdStrike gained public attention through its involvement in several notable cybersecurity investigations, including the analysis of the 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack and the 2016 breach of the Democratic National Committee's email systems. These high-profile engagements raised the company's profile and established it as a significant player in the threat intelligence and incident response market.

CrowdStrike's Growth and IPO

Under Kurtz's leadership, CrowdStrike grew rapidly, attracting significant venture capital investment and expanding its customer base among enterprise and government clients. In 2017, Forbes profiled the company after it achieved unicorn status—a private-company valuation exceeding $1 billion—with Kurtz discussing the company's strategy for securing enterprise environments.[13]

CrowdStrike completed its initial public offering (IPO) on June 12, 2019, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CRWD. The IPO initially sought to raise approximately $100 million.[14] The offering was received with significant interest from investors, and shares rose substantially on their first day of trading.[15]

Following the IPO, CrowdStrike continued to expand its platform offerings and market presence. The company was recognized as a leading endpoint security vendor on a global scale by industry analysts.[16] CRN included CrowdStrike among its list of hot cybersecurity companies to watch in 2020.[17] A 2015 Fortune feature had earlier highlighted Kurtz's role in building CrowdStrike's cybersecurity capabilities.[18]

2024 Global IT Outage

In July 2024, CrowdStrike released a software update to its Falcon sensor product that caused widespread disruptions to Microsoft Windows systems globally. The incident, which resulted from a faulty content update that triggered blue screen of death errors on affected machines, has been described as the largest outage in the history of information technology. Millions of systems were impacted across industries including aviation, healthcare, banking, and government services. As CEO, Kurtz faced significant public scrutiny and was called to account for the incident. The event prompted discussions across the technology industry about software update processes, quality assurance protocols, and the concentration of risk in cybersecurity supply chains.

Platform Strategy and Agentic AI

In 2025 and 2026, Kurtz continued to lead CrowdStrike's strategic direction, with a particular emphasis on platform consolidation and the integration of artificial intelligence into cybersecurity operations. At CrowdStrike's annual Fal.Con conference in September 2025, Kurtz delivered a keynote outlining the company's product strategy and vision.[19]

In November 2025, Kurtz discussed CrowdStrike's partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the company's Falcon Flex licensing model, as well as what he characterized as "incredibly important" moves involving the company's channel partner ecosystem.[20]

In early 2026, Kurtz described the year as a "breakout year" for the agentic Security Operations Center (SOC), referring to the use of AI-driven autonomous agents to assist security analysts in detecting and responding to threats. He outlined CrowdStrike's investments in agentic AI capabilities designed to automate and accelerate SOC workflows.[21]

In February 2026, CrowdStrike's stock experienced a significant decline following the launch of a new AI-powered security tool by Anthropic, which prompted investor concern about potential disruption to traditional cybersecurity business models. Kurtz publicly responded to the concerns, challenging the notion that AI tools could readily replicate CrowdStrike's capabilities.[22][23][24]

Personal Life

Motorsport

Outside of his corporate career, Kurtz is an active motorsport competitor. He holds a FIA Bronze driver rating and competes in endurance sports car racing. Kurtz has participated in some of the most prominent events in international motorsport, including winning the Pro-Am class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa.[5]

In the United States, Kurtz has competed in the Pirelli World Challenge (now SRO America), racing in the GTS class. Coverage from SpeedSport and Sportscar365 has documented his participation in various Pirelli Challenge events.[25][26] He has also raced in events at Utah Motorsports Campus, with Motorsport.com covering his participation in the GTS category of the Pirelli World Challenge.[27]

Mercedes F1 Co-Ownership

In November 2025, Kurtz acquired a minority ownership stake in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team from team principal Toto Wolff. As part of the arrangement, Kurtz took on the roles of technology adviser and steering-committee member for the team, which was valued at approximately $6 billion at the time of the transaction. The deal was announced during the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend.[3][28]

Real Estate

Kurtz is also involved in real estate development, owning and developing projects in Scottsdale, Arizona, and elsewhere in the Southwestern United States.

Recognition

Kurtz has received recognition from multiple business and technology publications over the course of his career. In 2024, Fortune magazine named him one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Business," reflecting CrowdStrike's growth into one of the most prominent cybersecurity companies in the world.

His co-authorship of Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions established him as an authority in cybersecurity literature. The book, which has gone through multiple editions, has been credited with influencing best practices in vulnerability assessment and penetration testing and is used as a reference in cybersecurity education and professional training programs.[5]

CrowdStrike under Kurtz's leadership has been recognized by multiple industry analyst firms and publications. The company was identified as a leading endpoint security vendor on a global scale,[16] and was named among the hot cybersecurity companies to watch by CRN.[17] These recognitions reflect the company's competitive position in the cybersecurity market during Kurtz's tenure as CEO.

Kurtz's involvement in motorsport has also brought him recognition in the racing community, with his Pro-Am class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa representing notable achievements for a gentleman driver who balances competitive racing with executive responsibilities.

Legacy

George Kurtz's career has intersected with several significant developments in the cybersecurity industry. Through Foundstone, he contributed to the establishment of vulnerability management as a formalized discipline within information security, developing tools, workflows, and terminology that became standard practice. His tenure at McAfee placed him at the center of major cybersecurity events during a period of escalating nation-state and criminal cyber activity.

The founding of CrowdStrike represented a broader industry shift from on-premises, signature-based security models toward cloud-native, AI-driven cybersecurity architectures. Under Kurtz's leadership, the company played a role in accelerating this transition and in demonstrating the viability of cloud-delivered endpoint protection at enterprise scale. CrowdStrike's involvement in high-profile breach investigations further elevated the company's visibility and contributed to broader public awareness of cybersecurity threats.

The 2024 global IT outage caused by a CrowdStrike software update also became a defining moment in Kurtz's career and in the cybersecurity industry more broadly. The incident raised fundamental questions about the risks associated with automatic software updates, the potential for single points of failure in widely deployed security tools, and the responsibilities of cybersecurity vendors in maintaining the stability of their customers' systems.

As of 2026, Kurtz continues to lead CrowdStrike as CEO while also pursuing interests in motorsport and technology advisory roles, including his co-ownership of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.[3][28]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "McAfee Buys Security Consulting Firm Foundstone".eWeek.http://www.eweek.com/security/mcafee-buys-security-consulting-firm-foundstone.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "McAfee Names George Kurtz EVP and CTO".ChannelTimes.http://www.channeltimes.com/story/mcafee-names-george-kurtz-evp-and-cto/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff sells a piece of his ownership stake to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz".CNBC.2025-11-20.https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/20/mercedes-f1-toto-wolff-ownership-crowdstrike-ceo-george-kurtz.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Parsippany native leads charge on cyber attacks".Asbury Park Press.2014-12-29.https://www.app.com/story/money/business/2014/12/29/parsippany-native-leads-charge-cyber-attacks/21031169/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "George Kurtz".CrowdStrike.https://www.crowdstrike.com/george-kurtz/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  6. ↑ "Interview: George Kurtz, McAfee, on Google attacks".GCN.2010-09-06.https://gcn.com/articles/2010/09/06/interview-george-kurtz-mcafee-google-attacks.aspx.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  7. ↑ "McAfee CTO warns of new combined threat named Night Dragon".SC Magazine UK.https://www.scmagazineuk.com/mcafee-cto-warns-of-new-combined-threat-named-night-dragon/article/561459.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "McAfee loses high-profile researcher and CTO".Reuters.2011-10-18.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mcafee-departures/mcafee-loses-high-profile-researcher-and-cto-idUSTRE79H63Y20111018.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  9. ↑ "McAfee Looking for New CTO After Kurtz Steps Down".CRN.http://www.crn.com/news/security/231901092/mcafee-looking-for-new-cto-after-kurtz-steps-down.htm.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  10. ↑ "Former McAfee CTO Debuts Stealthy Security Technology Startup CrowdStrike With $26M In Funding".TechCrunch.2012-02-23.https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/23/former-mcafee-cto-debuts-stealthy-security-technology-startup-crowdstrike-with-26m-in-funding/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  11. ↑ "Ex-McAfee execs start security firm CrowdStrike".Reuters.2012-02-23.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-security-startup/ex-mcafee-execs-start-security-firm-crowdstrike-idUSTRE81M21Q20120223.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  12. ↑ "Stealthy CrowdStrike to obliterate security threats, raises $26M".GeekWire.2012-02-23.https://www.geekwire.com/2012/stealthy-crowdstrike-obliterate-security-threats-raises-26m/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  13. ↑ HighPeterPeter"The CEO Of The World's Newest Unicorn On How To Secure Your Enterprise".Forbes.2017-05-23.https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2017/05/23/the-ceo-of-the-worlds-newest-unicorn-on-how-to-secure-your-enterprise/#415db24853ee.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  14. ↑ "CrowdStrike IPO Seeks to Raise $100M, Reveals Strength of Channel".CRN.https://www.crn.com/news/security/crowdstrike-ipo-seeks-to-raise-100m-reveals-strength-of-channel.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  15. ↑ "CrowdStrike IPO: CRWD, George Kurtz".Silicon Valley Business Journal.2019-06-12.https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/06/12/crowdstrike-ipo-crwd-george-kurtz.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "CrowdStrike recognised as leading endpoint security vendor on global scale".SecurityBrief.https://securitybrief.eu/story/crowdstrike-recognised-as-leading-endpoint-security-vendor-on-global-scale.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "10 Hot Cybersecurity Companies To Watch In 2020".CRN.https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/security/10-hot-cybersecurity-companies-to-watch-in-2020/3.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  18. ↑ "CrowdStrike Cybersecurity: George Kurtz".Fortune.2015-07-29.http://fortune.com/2015/07/29/crowdstrike-cybersecurity-george-kurtz/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  19. ↑ "Day 1 Fal.Con Keynote - George Kurtz, CEO and Founder".CrowdStrike.2025-09-17.https://ir.crowdstrike.com/events/event-details/day-1-falcon-keynote-george-kurtz-ceo-and-founder-0/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  20. ↑ "CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz On AWS, Falcon Flex And 'Incredibly Important' Partner Moves".CRN.2025-11-20.https://www.crn.com/news/security/2025/crowdstrike-ceo-george-kurtz-on-aws-falcon-flex-and-incredibly-important-partner-moves.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  21. ↑ "CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz: 2026 Is 'Breakout Year' For Agentic SOC".CRN.2026-01.https://www.crn.com/news/security/2026/crowdstrike-ceo-george-kurtz-2026-is-breakout-year-for-agentic-soc.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  22. ↑ "After Anthropic's new AI tool launch wipes millions from CrowdStrike's market value, CEO George Kurtz shares Claude AI's reply when asked to build a CrowdStrike replacement".The Times of India.2026-02-24.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/after-anthropics-new-ai-tool-launch-wipes-millions-from-crowdstrikes-market-value-ceo-george-kurtz-shares-claude-ais-reply-when-asked-to-build-a-crowdstrike-replacement/articleshow/128740101.cms.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  23. ↑ "Cybersecurity stocks drop for a second day as new Anthropic tool fuels AI disruption fears".CNBC.2026-02-23.https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/23/cybersecurity-stocks-anthropic-ai-crowdstrike.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  24. ↑ "CrowdStrike Hits Oversold Territory on Anthropic AI Launch. Should You Buy CRWD Stock on the Dip?".Yahoo Finance.2026-02-24.https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crowdstrike-hits-oversold-territory-anthropic-205906832.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  25. ↑ "George Kurtz Pirelli Challenge".SpeedSport.https://speedsport.com/road-racing/other-road-racing/george-kurtz-pirelli-challenge/2/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  26. ↑ "Pirelli Paddock Pass: George Kurtz".Sportscar365.https://sportscar365.com/sro/sro-america/world-challenge-america/pirelli-paddock-pass-george-kurtz-2/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  27. ↑ "Utah PWC: James delivers fourth GTS win for Panoz".Motorsport.com.https://www.motorsport.com/pwc/news/utah-pwc-james-delivers-fourth-gts-win-for-panoz-941079/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz becomes Mercedes F1 co-owner, team valued at $6bn".The New York Times (The Athletic).2025-11-20.https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6824455/2025/11/20/george-kurtz-mercedes-sale-f1/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.

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