# Christian Chabot

> Christian Chabot is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who co-founded Tableau with Chris Stolte and Pat Hanrahan in 2003. A former analyst, mapping-software founder and venture investor, he led Tableau as CEO through its 2013 IPO, stepped down as CEO in 2016 and served as chairman until the 2019 Salesforce acquisition. His later public work includes philanthropy and conservation giving.

- **Role:** Co-founder of Tableau; philanthropist (former CEO and chairman)
- **Organizations:** Tableau, BeeLine Software, Softbank Venture Capital, Cornerstone Research, The Holocene Foundation, The Nature Conservancy
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Engineering, Stanford University, M.Sc., University of Sussex, M.B.A., Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded Tableau and served as founding CEO from 2003 until September 2016., Led Tableau through its 2013 New York Stock Exchange IPO., Co-founded and bootstrapped BeeLine, a mapping-software venture acquired by Vicinity.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2000** — Worked as a data analyst at Cornerstone Research.
- **2000** — Completed his Stanford MBA; co-founded the mapping-software business BeeLine after business school.
- **Before 2003** — BeeLine was acquired by Vicinity; Chabot subsequently spent approximately two years at Softbank Venture Capital.
- **2003** — Co-founded Tableau with Chris Stolte and Pat Hanrahan and moved the company to Seattle in its first year.
- **2004** — Tableau obtained initial venture funding and an OEM agreement with Hyperion.
- **2008** — Tableau raised a further $10 million; held its first customer conference.
- **2013** — Led Tableau through its May 17 IPO on the NYSE, trading as DATA.
- **2016** — Adam Selipsky became CEO on September 16; Chabot remained chairman.
- **2019** — Salesforce completed its Tableau acquisition on August 1, ending the Tableau board and Chabot’s remaining formal role.
- **2023** — Appeared on The Logan Bartlett Show to discuss Tableau’s growth and operating lessons.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Tableau and served as founding CEO from 2003 until September 2016.
- Led Tableau through its 2013 New York Stock Exchange IPO.
- Co-founded and bootstrapped BeeLine, a mapping-software venture acquired by Vicinity.
- Author of Understanding the Euro, published by McGraw-Hill.
- Helped commercialize Stanford visual-analysis research into a business used internationally.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Forbes updated its profile, identifying Chabot’s post-Tableau focus as philanthropy.
- **2025-10** — The Holocene Foundation filed its final 2024 Form 990-PF, listing Chabot as president for the reporting period. Its liquidation statement records termination on July 12, 2024 and transfer of all assets to Vanguard Charitable by October 31, 2024.
- **2023-11** — The Logan Bartlett Show published episode 86 with Chabot on bootstrapping, investors, team chemistry and scaling Tableau.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianchabot

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/christian-chabot
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23