Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development
Charlie Rice leads the global Corporate and Business Development function at Akamai, responsible for identifying, evaluating, and executing mergers and acquisitions, investments, and other strategic transactions. He advises Akamai’s executive management team and board of directors on transaction strategy and corporate governance matters, and oversees transaction negotiation, execution, and integration. He and his team also lead venture investment activities, working closely with the Akamai Labs team.
Rice has been a strategic adviser to software and technology companies for over 20 years in roles including senior executive, board member, investor, and consultant. Prior to joining Akamai, Rice served on the global leadership team of Symantec, which at the time was the fourth-largest global software company and Fortune 500 global leader in cybersecurity. At Symantec, he also led corporate and business development, strategic alliances and licensing, and venture investment activities. Prior to Symantec, he held senior roles at technology-focused investment banking and consulting firms, including Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; Credit Suisse First Boston; and Andersen.
As one of the more experienced dealmakers in the cybersecurity market, Rice has led teams driving key strategic initiatives, acquisitions, and investments in high-profile cybersecurity segments including machine learning and big data analytics, advanced bot protection, identity management and authentication, IoT security, application security, data loss prevention, encryption, mobile device management, and messaging security.
He is a frequent speaker and panelist on subjects related to technology-related M&A and investments, has served as a judge in business plan competitions for nationally ranked business schools, and is involved with organizations seeking to promote stronger public-private partnerships in an effort to improve national security.