# Ken Xie

> Ken Xie is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Fortinet, which he started with his brother Michael in 2000. An electrical engineer educated at Tsinghua and Stanford, he previously founded SIS and co-founded NetScreen, pursuing dedicated hardware to address the performance limits of software firewalls. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2013.

- **Role:** Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fortinet
- **Organizations:** Fortinet, NetScreen Technologies, SIS, Jedi Venture, National Academy of Engineering, Cyber Threat Alliance, World Economic Forum Center for Cybersecurity
- **From:** Beijing, China
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in electronic engineering, Tsinghua University, M.S. in electronic engineering, Tsinghua University, M.S. in electrical engineering, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Co-founded NetScreen, which developed dedicated ASIC-based firewall and VPN systems., Co-founded Fortinet and led it through its 2009 IPO., Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2013 for contributions to cybersecurity, including network security systems and services.

## Career timeline

- **1981** — Entered Tsinghua University, according to his retrospective interview.
- **1990** — Came to the United States to study, initially at Ohio State before moving to Stanford.
- **1993** — Started his first network-security company, SIS.
- **1996** — Began NetScreen development around dedicated security hardware.
- **1997** — NetScreen founders left their existing jobs in October after building a prototype.
- **2000** — Co-founded Fortinet with Michael Xie in October.
- **2002** — Fortinet launched its first product.
- **2004** — Juniper acquired NetScreen for approximately $4 billion.
- **2009** — Fortinet completed its IPO.
- **2013** — Elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
- **2023** — Outlined Fortinet’s focus on secure networking, Universal SASE and security operations.
- **2026** — Continues leading Fortinet as it develops SP6 with Intel and acquires Virtue AI.

## Achievements

- Co-founded NetScreen, which developed dedicated ASIC-based firewall and VPN systems.
- Co-founded Fortinet and led it through its 2009 IPO.
- Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2013 for contributions to cybersecurity, including network security systems and services.
- Led Fortinet as it reported $6.80 billion in 2025 revenue.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Fortinet announced its acquisition of Virtue AI to extend AI validation and runtime protection; Xie described a vision of continuous AI assurance.
- **2026-07** — Fortinet reported Q2 2026 revenue of $2.05 billion, up 26% year over year, and highlighted its Intel collaboration on SP6.
- **2026-02** — Fortinet reported 2025 revenue of $6.80 billion, up 14% year over year.

## Links

- Website: https://www.fortinet.com/corporate/about-us/executive-management
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-xie-463a99162/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/KenXieFortinet

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ken-xie
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-15