Executive Team

Mr. Saylor has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since founding MicroStrategy in November 1989 and as President from November 1989 to November 2000 and from January 2005 to October 2012. Prior to founding MicroStrategy, Mr. Saylor was employed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as a Venture Manager from 1988 to 1989 and by Federal Group, Inc. as a consultant from 1987 to 1988. Mr. Saylor received an S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and an S.B. in Science, Technology and Society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Saylor is the bestselling author of the book The Mobile Wave.

Mr. Bansal has served as Executive Vice President since 1993 and Chief Operating Officer from 1993 to October 2012, and was previously Vice President, Consulting since joining MicroStrategy in 1990. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of MicroStrategy since September 1997 and has served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since November 2000. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Bansal was a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, a worldwide technical and management consulting firm, from 1987 to 1990. Mr. Bansal received an S.B. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Computer Science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to his election as President, Mr. Zolfaghari served as the Chief Operating Officer of ParAccel, Inc., an analytic database company headquartered in California, a position he had held from January 2011 to November 2012. Prior to his tenure at ParAccel, Mr. Zolfaghari served as MicroStrategy's Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales & Operations from December 2007 to January 2011, as Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Operations from August 2006 to December 2007, as Vice President, Worldwide Business Affairs from March 2005 to August 2006, as Vice President & Chief of Staff from July 2003 to March 2005, as Chief of Staff from November 2000 to July 2003, and as assistant to MicroStrategy's President & Chief Executive Officer from December 1999 to November 2000. Mr. Zolfaghari received a B.A. in English from Gettysburg College and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Prior to his election as President & Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Klein was serving as the Company's Executive Vice President, Law & General Counsel, a position he had held since December 2007. Mr. Klein also previously served as the Company's Vice President, Law and General Counsel from November 1998 to December 2007 and as Corporate Counsel from June 1997 to November 1998. From September 1993 to June 1997, Mr. Klein was an appellate litigator with the United States Department of Justice. Mr. Klein received a B.A. in Economics from Amherst College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Prior to his election as Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Thede was serving as the Company's Executive Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer, positions he had held since September 2009. Mr. Thede has also been Treasurer of the Company since November 2008, and will continue to serve in this position. Mr. Thede previously served as the Company's Interim Chief Financial Officer from March 2009 to September 2009, as Vice President, Worldwide Tax from November 2008 to September 2009, as acting Vice President, Worldwide Controller from March 2009 to June 2009, and as Vice President, Worldwide Tax Planning & Compliance from the time he joined MicroStrategy in June 2008 to March 2009. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Thede served as Senior Director, Tax of Convergys Corporation, an S&P 500 company that provides relationship management solutions, from March 2005 to May 2008, and as senior tax manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from August 2003 to March 2005. Mr. Thede also served a total of twelve years with Cincinnati Bell Inc., Ernst & Young LLP, and KPMG Peat Marwick from 1991 to 2003. Mr. Thede is a certified public accountant and received a B.S. in Business from Miami University.

Prior to his election as Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Watts was serving as the Company's Executive Vice President, Worldwide Professional Services, a position he had held since October 2009. Mr. Watts previously served as the Company's Vice President, Worldwide Consulting & Education Services from January 2008 to September 2009. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Watts served a total of nine years with Parametric Technology Corporation ("PTC"), a product lifecycle management and enterprise content management solutions provider, where he held positions of increasing responsibility including Senior Vice President, Global Services from 2004 to 2007. Prior to joining PTC, Mr. Watts served as Director-Product Development and Configuration Management for Texas Instruments' Defense Systems division from 1996 to 1998. Mr. Watts also served as an aviation officer with the United States Army from 1990 to 1996. Mr. Watts received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.S. in Business Organizational Management from the University of La Verne.

Prior to his election as Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Xiao was serving as the Company's Executive Vice President, Network and Applications Engineering, a position he had held since March 2012. Mr. Xiao previously served as the Company's Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer from December 2007 to February 2012, and as Vice President & Chief Information Officer from May 2006 to December 2007. From April 1999 to May 2006, Mr. Xiao held various positions of increasing responsibility in the Company's information systems department. Prior to joining MicroStrategy, Mr. Xiao served as the head of IT operations for Bond and Pecaro, a strategic consulting firm. Mr. Xiao received a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in International Business from Hawaii Pacific University and an M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University.