Philippe Kahn

Early life and education Philippe Kahn is the son of Charles-Henri Kahn (1915–1999) and Claire Monis (1922–1967).

Kahn was born and raised in Paris, France.

His mother was a French singer, actress, and violinist, raised in Paris by parents who had fled the Russian pogroms. Arrested in 1942 for being Lieutenant in the French Resistance, she was 21 years old when she was sent to the Auschwitz extermination camp. She survived as a member of the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra conducted by Alma Rosé. After his parents separated in 1957, Philippe Kahn was raised solely by his mother. He was only 15 years old when his mother died in a car accident in Paris.

Kahn was educated in mathematics at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland (Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute), on a full scholarship and University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. He received a master's in mathematics. He also received a master's in musicology composition and classical flute performance at the Zurich Music Conservatory in Switzerland. As a student, Kahn developed software for the MICRAL, which is credited by the Computer History Museum as the first ever microprocessor-based personal computer.

Career Technology companies

Kahn has founded four software companies: Borland, founded in 1982 (acquired by Micro Focus in 2009), Starfish Software, founded in 1994 (acquired by Motorola in 1998, and subsequently Google in 2011), LightSurf Technologies, founded in 1998 (acquired by Verisign in 2005), and Fullpower Technologies, founded in 2005.

Borland

Kahn co-founded Borland in 1982, and was its CEO until 1995. At the time it was a competitor of Microsoft's, and produced programming language compilers and software development tools.

In 2005, LightSurf was acquired by Verisign for US$300 million.

The inspiration behind some of Fullpower's technology stems from Kahn's passion for sailing. During a demanding race requiring sailors to sleep less than an hour every 24-hour period, Kahn began experimenting with biosensors and three-axis linear accelerometers that could detect micromovements and provide meaningful recommendations. Kahn created prototype sleep trackers using biosensors that optimized 26-minute power naps to maximize sleep benefits and sail time. He had been working for almost a year on a web server-based infrastructure for pictures, that he called Picture Mail. At the hospital, while his wife was in labor, Kahn jury-rigged a connection between a mobile phone and a digital camera and sent off photos in real time to the picture messaging infrastructure he had running in his home. Kahn later said "I had always wanted to have this all working in time to share my daughter's birth photo, but I wasn't sure I was going to make it. It's always the case that if it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done."

In 2016 Time magazine included Kahn's first camera phone photo in their list of the 100 most influential photos of all time. In 2017, Subconscious Films created a short film recreating the day that Philippe instantly shared the first camera-phone photo of the birth of his daughter Sophie.

Gay rights advocacy Under Kahn's direction, Borland became the first software company to offer domestic partners full benefits and a pioneer for gay rights in Silicon Valley. Kahn was a key speaker at the pivotal gay rights conference on the Apple campus on 19 October 1993.

Personal life Kahn has four children: Laura, Estelle, Samuel and Sophie. He married Sonia Lee, with whom he has daughter Sophie.

His sailing achievements also include winning the double handed division of the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawai'i and setting the Transpac record at 7 days, 19 hours, beating the previous time of 10 days, 4 hours. In his teenage years he had several outstanding race wins, including the 2003 Melges 24 Worlds race right after he turned 15. He has competed against his father.

Lee-Kahn Foundation Kahn and his wife Sonia run the Lee-Kahn Foundation. According to the foundation's website, it sponsors local and national non-profit organizations focused on environmental causes and works to improve access to health care, education, and the arts.