Visionary Leader
Most recently, Conner has been named Chairman of the Board of Comodo Certification Authority (Comodo CA), acquired by Francisco Partners in October of 2017. The investment by Francisco Partners marks a transition in ownership from the Comodo organization. Comodo, founded in 1998, grew as Comodo CA became an industry leader in SSL security with more than 200,000 customers across 150 countries. The acquisition represents a strong blend of technology, innovation and execution, as SSL certificates become further entrenched in organizations’ security protocols with the growing security risks associated with the massive growth in online and Internet of Things (IoT) traffic. Conner’s appointment and investment by Francisco Partners will help support the company’s accelerated growth as it focuses attention on the CA business, given the significant opportunity in the market.
Conner has been the vanguard of the Digital Information Age’s most transformational technology shifts. From leading key divisions of AT&T, to taking Nortel into data with the $9 billion acquisition of Bay Networks, to his work securing digital identities with Entrust, to bringing secure communications and privacy from the consumer to the enterprise through mobile and cloud with Silent Circle, Conner has built a strong track record. He’s re-engineered product lines, built world-class service organizations, re-aligned global sales organizations, and created industry-leading marketing campaigns. After he was appointed President and CEO of Silent Circle, Conner quickly re-positioned the consumer privacy company into a mobile Enterprise Privacy Platform (EPP) focused business. This included creating the marketing category, re-engineering the products and the global cloud delivery, and re-building the sales, service and marketing functions. As Entrust’s President and CEO, Conner quickly re-engineered the technology-led company to be customer- and market-driven, creating a best-in-class company. Upon taking Entrust private in 2009 with the private equity firm Thoma Bravo, he reset corporate priorities to take advantage of new market dynamics such as SaaS and mobility.
Contributing to the strong growth were record customer renewal rates exceeding 98%. In 2013, Entrust was purchased for a record 6.5 times the 2009 investment.