# Carl Eschenbach

> Carl Eschenbach is a technology executive and investor who scaled VMware from $30M to $7B as President and COO, led transformative growth investments at Sequoia Capital including Zoom and Snowflake, and served as CEO of Workday. A former Division I wrestler inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, he brings a competitive blue-collar work ethic to Silicon Valley's boardrooms, serving on the boards of Palo Alto Networks, Aurora, Snowflake, UiPath, and Zoom while counseling executives on his "4 C's" leadership framework.

- **Role:** Strategic Advisor to CEO at Workday; Board Director at Palo Alto Networks, Aurora, Snowflake, UiPath, Zoom
- **Organizations:** Workday, Sequoia Capital, VMware, Palo Alto Networks, Aurora Innovation, Snowflake, UiPath, Zoom Video Communications, National Wrestling Hall of Fame
- **From:** Pennsylvania, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Electronics Technician Diploma, DeVry University, Attended briefly before transferring to DeVry, Wilkes College
- **Known for:** Scaled VMware from $30M to $7B in revenue and from 200 to 20,000 employees over 14 years, Led Sequoia Capital's investments in Zoom and Snowflake, two of the most successful cloud IPOs, Convinced Zoom founder Eric Yuan to accept $100M Series D funding entirely from Sequoia

## Career timeline

- **1985** — Won gold medal at Centennial League wrestling tournament as high school senior
- **1980s** — Graduated from DeVry University with Electronics Technician diploma
- **2002** — Joined VMware (200 employees, $30M revenue)
- **2002-2016** — Served as President and Chief Operating Officer of VMware, scaling to 20,000 employees and $7B revenue
- **2013** — Joined board of directors of Palo Alto Networks
- **2016** — Left VMware and joined Sequoia Capital as General Partner
- **2017** — Led Zoom's $100M Series D funding round, entirely from Sequoia
- **2018** — Joined board of directors of Workday
- **2019** — Zoom IPO (Sequoia owned 11.4% stake)
- **2020** — Snowflake IPO (Sequoia owned 8.4% stake)
- **2021** — Inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame as Outstanding American
- **December 2022** — Appointed co-CEO of Workday alongside Aneel Bhusri
- **February 2024** — Became sole CEO of Workday
- **February 2026** — Stepped down as CEO of Workday; became strategic advisor to CEO

## Achievements

- Scaled VMware from $30M to $7B in revenue and from 200 to 20,000 employees over 14 years
- Led Sequoia Capital's investments in Zoom and Snowflake, two of the most successful cloud IPOs
- Convinced Zoom founder Eric Yuan to accept $100M Series D funding entirely from Sequoia
- Inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame as Outstanding American (2021)
- First wrestler to win six individual league wrestling championships in East Stroudsburg Youth Association
- First wrestler named to Pocono Record's All-Pocono First-Team four consecutive years
- Under his tenure at Workday: delivered $8.4B total revenue (16% growth), joined S&P 500 and Fortune 500
- Led Workday through acquisitions of HiredScore and Evisort, launched Workday Illuminate AI platform
- Serves on boards of five major public technology companies simultaneously

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Stepped down as CEO of Workday; Aneel Bhusri returned as CEO; Eschenbach continues as strategic advisor
- **2026-03** — Opening speaker at Captivate 2026 conference focused on revenue strategy and AI
- **2025-FY** — Led Workday to $8.4B total revenue (16% growth), $7.7B subscription revenue (17% growth), and $2.5B operating cash flow (15% growth)
- **2025** — Workday joined S&P 500 and Fortune 500 under his leadership
- **2025** — Workday unveiled Workday Illuminate AI platform and announced Workday Agent System of Record

## Links

- Website: https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/carl-eschenbach/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-eschenbach-980543/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/carl_eschenbach

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/carl-eschenbach
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-02