Gil Shwed
Israeli co-founder of Check Point, inventor of the stateful firewall
- Works listed
- 1
- Software
- Honours
- 1
- Most recent 2018
- Profile views
- 0
- 0 followers
Gil Shwed is an Israeli software engineer who co-founded Check Point Software Technologies in 1993 and invented the commercial stateful-inspection firewall. He was CEO for 30 years, the longest tenure at a Nasdaq-listed company, and is now executive chairman.
Biography
Background
Shwed began programming at 13 and took computer science classes at the Hebrew University as a teenager. He served in the Israel Defense Forces’ Unit 8200, working on network security.
Check Point
In 1993 he, Marius Nacht and Shlomo Kramer founded Check Point and released FireWall-1, using stateful inspection to filter internet traffic.
Growth
Check Point listed on the Nasdaq in 1996 and became one of Israel’s largest technology companies.
Chairman
He stepped down as CEO in 2024, handing over to Nadav Zafrir, and became executive chairman. He won the Israel Prize in 2018.
Timeline
-
1993
Co-founds Check Point
-
1994
FireWall-1
-
1996
Nasdaq listing
-
2018
Israel Prize
-
2024
Becomes executive chairman
Notable works
-
1994
FireWall-1 Software
Awards and honours
-
Israel Prize
2018
Did you know?
-
1
He served in Unit 8200, which produced many Israeli tech founders.
-
2
He started Check Point at 25.
-
3
He founded a youth programme, Youth University.
Frequently asked
Who is Gil Shwed?
Gil Shwed is an Israeli software engineer who co-founded Check Point Software Technologies in 1993 and invented the commercial stateful-inspection firewall. He was CEO for 30 years, the longest tenure at a Nasdaq-listed company, and is now executive chairman.
Where is Gil Shwed from?
Gil Shwed was born in Jerusalem, Israel.
What is Gil Shwed known for?
Gil Shwed is best known for Co-founding Check Point (1993); FireWall-1; CEO 1994–2024.
What awards has Gil Shwed received?
Notable honours include Israel Prize (2018).
References
- Gil Shwed — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Gil Shwed (Q2909403) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Gil Shwed”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Gil Shwed.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/gil-shwed
Discussion 0
Sign in or create an account to join the discussion.
No comments yet — be the first.
More in Technology
Technology
Sachin Bansal
Co-founder of Flipkart and founder of Navi
Born 1981
Technology
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO of Microsoft
Born 1967
Technology
Nandan Nilekani
Infosys co-founder and architect of Aadhaar
Born 1955
Technology
Ritesh Agarwal
Founder of the hotel chain OYO
Technology
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder of the digital payments company Paytm
Born 1978
Technology
Shantanu Narayen
Chairman and CEO of Adobe