Michael Widenius
Finnish programmer who created MySQL and MariaDB
- Age
- 64 yrs
- Birthday in 117 days
- Works listed
- 2
- Database
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 3
- 0 followers
Michael “Monty” Widenius is a Finnish programmer who wrote the original MySQL database and co-founded MySQL AB. MySQL became the most popular open-source database for websites. After Oracle acquired it, he founded MariaDB as an open alternative.
Biography
Background
Widenius studied at the Helsinki University of Technology and worked at the Swedish company TcX, writing database tools.
MySQL
With David Axmark and Allan Larsson he released MySQL in 1995, named after his daughter My. Free, fast and simple, it became the “M” in the LAMP stack and powered Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube.
Sun and Oracle
MySQL AB was sold to Sun Microsystems in 2008 for about $1 billion. When Oracle bought Sun in 2010, Widenius campaigned against the merger.
MariaDB
In 2009 he forked MySQL to create MariaDB, named after his younger daughter Maria. Many Linux distributions adopted it as the default.
Timeline
-
1962
Born in Helsinki, Finland
-
1995
MySQL released
-
2001
MySQL AB founded as a company
-
2008
Sun buys MySQL AB
-
2009
Founds MariaDB
-
2010
Oracle acquires Sun
-
2022
MariaDB lists on the stock market
Notable works
-
1995
MySQL Database
-
2009
MariaDB Database
Did you know?
-
1
MySQL is named after his daughter My; MariaDB after his daughter Maria; MaxDB after his son Max.
-
2
MySQL’s dolphin mascot is named Sakila.
-
3
He helped set up the MariaDB Foundation in 2012.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Michael Widenius?
Michael “Monty” Widenius is a Finnish programmer who wrote the original MySQL database and co-founded MySQL AB. MySQL became the most popular open-source database for websites. After Oracle acquired it, he founded MariaDB as an open alternative.
How old is Michael Widenius?
Michael Widenius is 64 years old, born on 3 March 1962 in Helsinki, Finland.
Where is Michael Widenius from?
Michael Widenius was born in Helsinki, Finland.
What is Michael Widenius known for?
Michael Widenius is best known for Co-founding MySQL (1995); founding MariaDB.
References
- Michael Widenius — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. monty-says.blogspot.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Michael Widenius (Q1362152) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Michael Widenius”, 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
“Michael Widenius.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/michael-widenius
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