Mark B. Templeton

Mark B. Templeton was President and CEO of Citrix Systems, Inc from 2001 to 2015. He attended North Carolina State University, where he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He has an MBA from Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

Templeton joined Citrix in 1995 as vice president of marketing, prior to the company’s initial public offering. He was appointed president in 1998 and chief executive officer in 2001. Under his leadership, Citrix transformed from a $15 million organization with one product, one customer segment and one go-to-market path, to a global powerhouse with annual revenues of $3.28 billion in 2015. Today, Citrix solutions and products enable mobile workstyles for millions of people every day. Citrix services more than 260,000 organizations with over 10,000 business partners in 100 countries.

Templeton holds a bachelor's degree in product design from North Carolina State University and an MBA from the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business. He is a passionate participant in many community and charitable organizations and serves on the board of directors of Equifax.

A popular and provocative speaker, Templeton has shared his perspective and technology vision with audiences at events such as CIO 100 and Interop, as well as the Citrix Synergy user and Citrix Summit partner conferences. He has received numerous leadership awards, such as the AeA Abacus Award for Outstanding High-Tech Executive, “Businessperson of the Year” (EVIE Award) and the Excalibur Award. He is also included on Glassdoor’s 2013 list of “50 Highest Rated CEOs.”

In his visit to Citrix SaaS division offices in February 2014, Templeton declared his highest aspiration was to be a moral corporate leader, and he received a standing ovation. Two weeks later the branch cut its workforce by 10%, something Templeton neglected to announce as the employees applauded his virtue.

Templeton contributed the maximum allowed by law to Jeb Bush's 2016 Presidential Campaign. In the past he has contributed to the Republican National Committee, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Tim Mahoney, and Ron Klein. Templeton owns a Tesla Model X.