Gideon Gartner

Gideon Isaiah Gartner (; March 13, 1935 – December 12, 2020) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was often referred to as the father of the modern analyst industry. His father Abraham was an engineer, while his mother Pnina (née Bedri) was a musician and teacher. In 1938 the family moved to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, where Abraham became a civil engineer for New York City. Gartner attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush and then Midwood High School, graduating in 1952. Gartner rose steadily at IBM, eventually moving to its White Plains, New York, offices to become Manager of Market Information in the Data Processing Division, and a leading figure in the company’s department of commercial analysis.

In 1969, Gartner left IBM to form his first independent venture, Computer Decisions, a magazine publishing company that documented the latest happenings in the computer industry. The new publishing firm struggled in the recession of 1969-70 and was sold to a time-share company which subsequently failed.

Wall Street In 1970, despite having no background in security analysis, Gartner was hired by EF Hutton to cover IBM and the burgeoning computer industry. He thrived at Hutton, and in 1972 joined Oppenheimer and Co. “chunking” lengthy research into shorter pieces with bottom-line emphasis, bridging the gap between the massive generalizations at most brokerage houses and the heavy technological data put out by market research firms; and distributing to clients a relentless flow of ancillary content in the form of daily short-takes and advice that became known as “sunflowers.” with Stock Market Innovators, an industry trade paper, noting that “a remarkable number of his long-term forecasts have proven prophetic.” Some of these forecasts extended to developments that would come to pass after his time as an active analyst had ended, as when Gartner described in highly specific terms the capabilities, features, and challenges of what would become mass-produced personal computers. In the 1977 joint exhibit sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Goldman Sachs, and the Boston Computer Museum, documented in the book “Wizards and Their Wonders: Portraits in Computing”, Gartner was honored as one of the preeminent “Communicator” stars in the IT industry. He rose to VP and head of the Oppenheimer Technology Group, and eventually became a partner.

Gartner's venture capital financing was unique among advisory firms at the time. Gartner Group was initially financed by Bessemer Venture Partners and E.M. Warburg Pincus, with Bank Paribas joining a year later. This led to the firm being the first in its field to raise public capital in a 1986 offering, supporting its growth. Raising capital from venture firms allowed Gartner to build a nationwide sales organization, the first of its kind in the industry.

Gartner instituted a sales measurement and compensation scheme, based upon how IBM had measured its rental sales, but novel when applied to consulting/advisory firms: since Gartner Group sold annual renewable contracts and recorded "Contract Value", it based progress reporting and compensation (commission for sales personnel and bonus for analysts and managers), on the growth of appropriate Contract Value (CV) during a period of time; this was called Net Contract Value Increase (NCVI). Uniquely, compared with all prior consulting and advisory models, all variable compensation was based upon growth and not on revenue from renewals, an important factor in developing a strong growth culture.

Gartner Group was ranked among the fastest growing private firms in the U.S. (by Inc. Magazine) until it went public in 1986, whereupon it was listed for several years among the best small companies in America (by Business Week, e.g. #9 overall, and #1 in profitability, in 1987). Gartner was sold to Saatchi & Saatchi in 1988, and Gartner signed a contract to remain as CEO until April 1991. In 1990, Gartner led a successful leveraged buyout of the firm financed by Information Partners, a private equity fund owned by Bain Capital and Dun & Bradstreet. its offering of a single comprehensive IT Advisory service (compared with the typical multiple services of other advisory firms), an external cadre of experts to supplement the strategic nature of analysts on staff, and a set of web functions which stressed objectivity of analysis, and allowed on-line research by clients (called “The Knowledge Salon”).

Giga went public in 1998, but its stock languished during and after the technology stock market meltdown of 2000. In February 2003 the company was sold to Forrester Research.

Other activities and interests Gartner lived in Aspen, Colorado, and Stamford, Connecticut, and was involved in business ventures, athletics, and classical music. His music background includes a lifetime of piano practice, as well as performing on the French Horn, having been a member of the London School Symphony Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic (then called the Brooklyn Philharmonia). He was on the board of the Opera Orchestra of N.Y, was a trustee of the Music Associates of Aspen (the Aspen Music Festival and School), was a fellow of the Aspen Institute, and was on the National Councils or equivalent, of the Aspen Art Museum, and the Anderson Ranch.

He served on the Library Committee of the M.I.T. Corporation and was a Sustaining Fellow Life Member of M.I.T. He was a past member of the board of the Society for Information Management where he was Special Appointee to the President. He was a Director's Circle member of the Charles Babbage Institute and a member of the board of directors of the IT History Society. In the 1977 joint exhibit sponsored by the ACM and Goldman Sachs in Washington, D.C., and the Boston Computer Museum, documented in the book “Wizards and Their Wonders: Portraits in Computing”, Gartner was honored as one of the 19 “Communicator” stars in the IT industry.

Gartner's professional activities have included speaking before major organizations worldwide. He has addressed graduate student groups at Harvard Business School, M.I.T., Yale, University of Georgia, and Arizona State, among others. In 1985, Gartner taught a course at UCLA’s Graduate School of Management (GSM), which was formally rated by his students as their best course taken throughout GSM. Gartner has also written extensively, for example, the AMA journal, series of articles for Computer Decisions and Information Week magazines, and the forward and much of Chapter 7, in “The E-Marketplace…Strategies for success in B2B eCommerce”, by Warren Raisch (McGraw Hill, 2001).

He was an active angel investor in early-stage companies, and was a member of New York Angels.

Personal life

Gartner's marriage to his first wife, Janet Sussman Gartner, was part of the inspiration for Erich Segal's novel and film Love Story. Gartner and Segal had both been smitten with Sussman through and beyond their college years, and Segal's heartbreak led to Sussman becoming an inspiration for the character Jenny.

Gartner died on December 12, 2020, at his home in New York, of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was aged 85.