Editing Michael Widenius

{{short description|Finnish software programmer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Michael Widenius
| image              = Michael ”Monty” Widenius at MariaDB’s Developers Unconference 2019 in New York City 03.jpg
| image_size         = 180px
| caption            = Michael "Monty" Widenius, 2019
| birth_name         = Ulf Michael Widenius
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age |1962|03|03|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]
| other_names        = Monty
| occupation         = {{plainlist|
*CTO of the MariaDB Corporation AB
*Co-founder of [[MySQL AB]]
*Author of the [[MySQL]] server and [[MariaDB]] fork
*General partner at OpenOcean}}
| children           = 3, My, Max and Maria, whose names inspired [[MySQL]], [[MaxDB]] and [[MariaDB]].
| website            = {{URL|https://monty-says.blogspot.com/}}
}}

'''Ulf Michael Widenius''' (born 3 March 1962), also known as '''Monty''', is a [[Finland|Finnish]] software programmer. He is the main author of the original version of the [[Open-source model|open source]] [[MySQL]] database, a founding member of the [[MySQL AB]] company, founding member of the [[MariaDB]] Foundation and CTO of the MariaDB Company. Additionally, he is a founder and general partner at [[venture capital]] firm [[OpenOcean]].

== Biography ==
===Early years===
Born in [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]], Widenius went to the co-educational school [[Broban]], which was first merged into Minervaskolan and later to Lönnbeckska gymnasiet.  After dropping out of [[Helsinki University of Technology]], Widenius started working for Tapio Laakso [[Osakeyhtiö|Oy]] in 1981. In 1985 he founded TCX DataKonsult [[Aktiebolag|AB]] (a Swedish data warehousing company) with [[Allan Larsson (MySQL)|Allan Larsson]].{{r|management}} In 1995 he began writing the first version of the MySQL database with [[David Axmark]], released in 1996. He is the co-author of the ''MySQL Reference Manual'', published by [[O'Reilly Media|O'Reilly]] in June 2002; and in 2003 he was awarded the Finnish [[Software entrepreneurship|Software Entrepreneur]] of the Year prize.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Finnish Software Entrepreneurs Association | title = Supercellin tiimi on vuoden ohjelmistoyrittäjä | language = fi | accessdate = 2017-04-24 | url = https://ohjelmistoyrittajat.fi/fi/supercellin-tiimi-vuoden-ohjelmistoyritt%C3%A4j%C3%A4 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305234532/http://www.ohjelmistoyrittajat.fi/fi/supercellin-tiimi-vuoden-ohjelmistoyritt%C3%A4j%C3%A4 | archive-date = 5 March 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Until MySQL AB's sale to [[Sun Microsystems]] in 2008,<ref>{{cite web |publisher = [[MySQL AB]] |work = News & events |title = Sun to Acquire MySQL |url = http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/sun-to-acquire-mysql.html |accessdate = 2008-09-05 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080905194020/http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/sun-to-acquire-mysql.html |archivedate = 5 September 2008}}</ref> he was the [[chief technical officer]] of MySQL AB. After the acquisition, he remained one of the primary forces behind the ongoing development of MySQL.<ref>{{cite web |first = Kaj |last = Arnö |title = Monty: The First MySQL Fellow |date = Apr 2007 |publisher = [[Kaj Arnö]] |url = http://kajsql.kajarno.com/2007/04/monty-first-mysql-fellow.html |accessdate = 2012-10-23 }}</ref>

===MySQL acquired by Sun===
Widenius sold MySQL to [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] in January 2008, earning about €16.6 million in [[capital gain]]s in 2008 (€16.8 million total income), making him one of the top 10 highest earners in Finland that year.<ref name="iltasanomat">{{cite web |work = Ilta-Sanomat |title = Suomen 100 suurituloisinta 2008 |url = http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/uutinen.asp?id=1748083 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091103054549/http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/uutinen.asp?id=1748083 |url-status = dead |archive-date = 3 November 2009 |date = 2009-11-02 |language = Finnish |location = [[Finland|FI]] |accessdate = 2009-11-06 }}</ref><ref name="hs">{{cite web |work = Helsingin Sanomat |title = Verotiedot 2008 |language = Finnish |location = Helsinki, FI |url = http://www.hs.fi/verotiedot/list.do?personPattern=widenius&year=2008&submit=%A0Hae+tiedot%A0 |accessdate = 2009-11-06 }}</ref>

===After Sun===
In 2008, Widenius established venture capital firm OpenOcean with his MySQL AB colleague Patrik Backman and early advisors Tom Henriksson and Ralf Wahlsten.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Hear |first=Steve |date=November 10, 2015 |title=Open Ocean Closes New €100M Fund, Recruits Richard Muirhead As London General Partner |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/10/open-ocean-fund/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=techcrunch.com}}</ref>

On 5 February 2009, he announced that he was leaving Sun in order to create his own company.<ref>{{cite web |publisher = Monty's blog |title = Time to move on |date = 5 February 2009 |url = http://monty-says.blogspot.com/2009/02/time-to-move-on.html |accessdate = 2009-02-05 }}</ref>

On 12 December 2009, Widenius asked MySQL customers to lobby the [[European Commission]] (EC), regarding [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]]'s acquisition of Sun, citing concerns about potential Oracle control of MySQL;<ref>{{cite web |publisher = Monty's blog |title = Help saving MySQL |date = 12 December 2009 |url = http://monty-says.blogspot.com/2009/12/help-saving-mysql.html |accessdate = 2009-12-12 }}</ref> this resulted in an online petition campaign called "Save MySQL".<ref>{{cite web |title=Help saving MySQL |url=http://monty-says.blogspot.com/2009/12/help-saving-mysql.html |last=Michael |first=Widenius |date=12 December 2009 |work=Monty Says |publisher=Google |accessdate=16 September 2012}}</ref>

After leaving Sun, he formed [[Monty Program Ab]] and forked MySQL into [[MariaDB]], named after his youngest daughter, Maria.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://kb.askmonty.org/en/why-is-the-project-called-mariadb/ |title = Why is the project called MariaDB? |work = AskMonty |type = knowledgebase |accessdate = 2013-02-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130604042605/https://kb.askmonty.org/en/why-is-the-project-called-mariadb/ |archive-date = 4 June 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> It includes several patches and plugins developed by the company itself or the community. One of these plugins is the Aria storage engine, which was renamed from Maria to avoid confusion with MariaDB. Monty Program Ab merged with [[SkySQL]], who later renamed themselves [[MariaDB Corporation]]. In 2012, he was a founding member of the [[MariaDB Foundation]], a non-profit organisation charged with promoting, protecting and advancing the MariaDB codebase, community, and ecosystem.<ref name="ceo_mf">{{cite web | url=https://mariadb.com/about/leadership | title=Leadership | publisher=mariadb.com | accessdate=8 December 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008023547/https://mariadb.com/about/leadership | archive-date=8 October 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=People Behind MariaDB |url=https://mariadb.com/kb/en/people-behind-mariadb/ |access-date=2025-02-03 |website=MariaDB KnowledgeBase}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-06 |title=MariaDB Foundation to Safeguard Leading Open Source Database « The MariaDB Blog |url=http://blog.mariadb.org/mariadb-foundation-to-safeguard-leading-open-source-database/ |access-date=2025-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906210407/http://blog.mariadb.org/mariadb-foundation-to-safeguard-leading-open-source-database/ |archive-date=6 September 2013 }}</ref>

The Open Database Alliance, also known as ODBA,<ref>{{Citation |url = http://odba.org/ |title = ODBA |publisher = Open database alliance |type = official [[World Wide Web]] site }}.</ref> was founded in 2009 by the Monty Program and [[Percona]]. According to its first announcement, "the Open Database Alliance will comprise a collection of companies working together to provide the software, support and services for MariaDB, an enterprise-grade, community-developed branch of MySQL".<ref>{{cite web |publisher = Open Database Alliance |title = Welcome |url = http://odba.org/news/welcome_to_the_odba |accessdate = 2012-10-18 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120920033119/http://odba.org/news/welcome_to_the_odba |archivedate = 20 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="mf">{{cite web | url=https://mariadb.org/en/foundation/ | title=About the MariaDB Foundation | publisher=mariadb.org | accessdate=8 December 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Widenius lives in [[Kauniainen]], Finland with his second wife Anna and his youngest daughter, Maria. Widenius has three children – My, Max, and Maria – who inspired the names for [[MySQL]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/history.html |title = History of MySQL |work = MySQL |edition = 5.1 |type = Reference Manual |accessdate = 26 August 2011 }}</ref> [[MaxDB]] and the MySQL-Max distribution, and [[MariaDB]].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://mariadb.com/kb/en/aria-faq/#why-is-the-engine-called-aria |title = Aria FAQ: Why is the engine called Aria? |work = MariaDB Knowledge Base |type = knowledgebase |accessdate = 2020-07-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media
 | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Piw-hC1Oq0
 | transcript = The MySQL-MariaDB story (slide deck)
 | transcript-url = https://www.slideshare.net/profyclub_ru/4-michael-widenius-monty-program-ab
 | people = Michael Widenius
 | title = The MySQL MariaDB Story
 | medium = Conference presentation
 | publisher = HighLoad++
 | date = October 28, 2013 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name=management>{{cite web|publisher=[[MySQL AB]] |work=The company |title=Management Team |url=http://www.mysql.com/company/management.html |accessdate=2008-01-10 |url-status=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223074057/http://www.mysql.com/company/management.html |archivedate=23 February 2008 }}</ref>

}}

== External links ==
* {{Blogspot|monty-says|Official page}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widenius, Michael}}
[[Category:Swedish-speaking Finns]]
[[Category:Free software programmers]]
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Helsinki]]
[[Category:Finnish computer programmers]]
[[Category:Technology company founders]]
[[Category:Aalto University alumni]]