Mohamad Ali, CEO of back-up data protection company Carbonite, just secured the $618.5 million acquisition of cybersecurity company Webroot. Billions of digital files around the world owing their security to Ali’s company.
As Ali explained, “With threats like ransomware evolving daily, our customers and partners are increasingly seeking a more comprehensive solution that is both powerful and easy to use.”
Yet, ironically, the Carbonite leader was initially terrified by technology as a young immigrant. The Webroot deal is just the latest step in Ali’s journey. Since arriving in America, Ali has grown from a teenager intimidated by technology, to top tech executive providing security to millions of customers.
Mohamad Ali’s Family Arrived in the U.S. with Only $34
Speaking at an immigration ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Ali recalled arriving in the US at age 13 and encountering a terrifying machine.
His family had just arrived from Guyana with $34 and a few pieces of luggage. After clearing airport customs in a procession of fellow immigrants, they approached a horrifying metallic apparatus that groaned and whirred.
“Later we learned that the machine was called an escalator,” Ali explains wryly.
This memory now serves to remind Ali of how far he has come.
“At that moment, looking up from the bottom of the escalator, the idea that I would one day be CEO of a company… It was unfathomable,” he says. “If you had told me that I would standing here today, I would have thought you were mad. How could this be possible? It is possible because this is America.”
From Impoverished Immigrant to Stanford Graduate
As the head of a company that secures over 100 billion files globally, Ali has lived the American dream.
Born in 1970 under the rule of a dictator in Guyana, Ali experienced widespread shortage of basic needs like food and water. His mother had started her career as a rice field worker, his father a subsistence farmer. But through hard work, his mother became a teacher, and his father a police officer.
Then the Ali family moved to the US, living in near-poverty in New York City. In 1991, they all became US citizens.
Ali studied hard in school, and graduated with an engineering degree from Stanford. He went on to take high-stakes jobs at IBM and Hewlett-Packard. There, he immersed himself each day in machines and technology much more complex than an escalator.
Mohamad Ali Embraces the American Dream
As CEO of Carbonite, Ali oversees thousands of employees and makes nine-figure deals – like the recent Webroot acquisition – to guide the company’s growth.
After overcoming fears, obstacles, and failures to achieve his current success, Ali has a message for his fellow immigrants.
“You, my brothers and sisters, who have seen this type of hardship, know what a gem America is,” Ali reminds. “You will work hard, study hard, create businesses, create jobs, and build our American economy, because you know what life is like elsewhere, and you chose America. It is from the best of humanity, immigrants to this land, that America is built.”
In that sense, the immigrant dream and an escalator actually have much in common. It might be scary at first, but once you muster the courage to take that first step, you’re on your way up.
