# Christa Quarles

> Christa Quarles is the CEO of Parallels, a KKR-backed desktop virtualization and remote-work software company spun out of Corel Corporation in 2026. A former Wall Street analyst who helped take Google public, she pivoted to operating roles at Playdom, Disney Interactive, Nextdoor, and OpenTable before becoming CEO of Corel Corporation in 2020. Known for her 'leadership by haiku' philosophy and a track record of driving subscription transformation, she grew Parallels Workspace to 49% net new ARR in 2025 and scaled Parallels Desktop to over one million customers. She also serves as Lead Independent Director at Affirm Holdings.

- **Role:** CEO and Executive Chair at Parallels (KKR)
- **Organizations:** Parallels, Corel Corporation, Alludo, Affirm Holdings, OpenTable, The Walt Disney Company, Nextdoor, Playdom, Thomas Weisel Partners, Defy VC
- **From:** Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Economics and German (graduated first in economics department, Phi Beta Kappa), Carnegie Mellon University, MBA, Harvard Business School, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), CFA Institute
- **Known for:** Part of the team at Thomas Weisel Partners that took Google public, Led Disney Interactive's mobile and social games division to profitability, As OpenTable CEO, achieved 50% women engineers hired in a single quarter through resume-anonymizing reform

## Career timeline

- **Mid-1990s** — Equity research analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners; part of the team that took Google public
- **2009** — CFO at Playdom, a social gaming startup
- **2010** — Disney acquires Playdom; Quarles joins Disney Interactive
- **2010-2014** — SVP & GM, Mobile and Social Games at The Walt Disney Company; led division to profitability
- **2014** — Chief Business Officer at Nextdoor
- **2015** — Joined OpenTable as CFO; named permanent CEO by November 2015
- **2015-2018** — CEO of OpenTable; expanded to 43,000+ restaurants and 24M monthly diners; championed diversity hiring reform
- **2019-2020** — Operating Partner at Advent International (private equity)
- **2020** — Appointed CEO of Corel Corporation by KKR in September
- **2022** — Led Corel's full rebrand to 'Alludo'; acquired Belgian firm Awingu
- **2025** — Drove Parallels Workspace to 49% net new ARR growth; Parallels Desktop crossed 1M customers
- **2026** — Corel splits into two independent companies; Quarles becomes CEO of standalone Parallels under KKR

## Achievements

- Part of the team at Thomas Weisel Partners that took Google public
- Led Disney Interactive's mobile and social games division to profitability
- As OpenTable CEO, achieved 50% women engineers hired in a single quarter through resume-anonymizing reform
- Led Corel's rebrand to Alludo in September 2022, repositioning around the future of work
- Increased women in senior leadership at Corel/Alludo from 0% to 50% within two years
- Grew Parallels Workspace to 49% net new ARR growth in 2025
- Scaled Parallels Desktop to over 1 million customers worldwide
- Lead Independent Director at Affirm Holdings (since 2018)
- Former board member at Kimberly-Clark Corporation
- First in her economics department at Carnegie Mellon University; Phi Beta Kappa

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Corel Corporation announced strategic split: Vector Capital acquired creativity brands (CorelDRAW, MindManager, WinZip); Quarles continues as CEO of standalone Parallels under KKR
- **2025-12** — Parallels Workspace Solutions delivered 49% net new ARR growth; Parallels Desktop exceeded 1 million customers worldwide
- **2026-01** — Appeared at Semafor World Economy Summit discussing the most surprising impact of the AI revolution
- **2022-09** — Led Corel's full rebrand to 'Alludo,' repositioning around the future of work
- **2022-01** — Acquired Belgian remote-access firm Awingu to expand Parallels product line

## Links

- Website: https://corel.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/christaquarles
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/cquarles
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/csquarles/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Corel/?itrkid=Footer_Social_FB

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/christa-quarles
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-17