Former Apple Software Chief Avie Tevanian Joins Elevation Partners as Managing Director
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Elevation Partners today announced that Avadis "Avie" Tevanian has joined the firm as a Managing Director. Tevanian brings to Elevation more than two decades of operational and software expertise in consumer and technology businesses. Most recently, Tevanian was Chief Software Technology Officer at Apple, Inc., and a member of the company's senior management team, where he led Apple's software strategy and development.
Fred Anderson, Managing Director and co-founder of Elevation said, "Avie and I worked closely together at Apple for many years and I have always admired his engineering talent and leadership, his strategic vision for how software can transform businesses and his ability to execute on that vision. We are proud that he has decided to join Elevation and believe he will be a huge asset as we explore new investment opportunities".
Mr. Tevanian said, "Elevation Partners has put together an impressive investment team with the technological expertise and operational experience to identify future opportunities and implement change within existing businesses to seize those opportunities. This is just one of the many reasons I am excited to join Fred and the rest of the Elevation team."
As a Managing Director, Tevanian will assist Elevation in the evaluation of new investment opportunities, advise those companies and help drive the strategy of the firm.
"We are thrilled by the recent addition of two new partners, Rajiv Dutta and Avie Tevanian, who together bring incredible capabilities and relationships to Elevation enhancing our ability to pursue transformational investments in the future," added Roger McNamee, Managing Director and co-founder of Elevation.
Tevanian spent nearly 10 years at Apple. Prior to serving as Chief Software Technology Officer, he was Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, where he led the software engineering team that developed OS X, the operating system that today powers many Apple products including desktops, notebooks, servers, the iPhone and the iPod Touch. While at Apple, he served as a member of the executive team that led the company's turnaround.
Earlier in his career, Tevanian was Vice President of Software Engineering at NeXT Computer and was responsible for managing NeXT's software engineering department and the NeXTSTEP operating system.
Tevanian holds a B.A. in mathematics from University of Rochester and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. While at Carnegie Mellon, Tevanian was a principal designer and engineer of the Mach operating system, which OS X is based upon.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Dolby Laboratories, Inc. and is a former Board member of Tellme Networks, Inc., an internet telecom company acquired by Microsoft.
