Matei Zaharia

$5.03 B

Ranked #826 in World

About Matei Zaharia

Romanian-Canadian computer scientist and tech entrepreneur Matei Zaharia, noted for creating Apache Spark, is listed as Romania's third-richest individual in April 2022, with a $1.6 billion net worth alongside Ion Stoica. A University of Waterloo alumnus and International Collegiate Programming Contest gold medalist, Zaharia excelled early in academic and practical arenas, contributing to game development before revolutionizing big data processing at UC Berkeley's AMPLab. His academic journey continued from MIT to Stanford and back to UC Berkeley, earning accolades such as the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award and the Presidential Early Career Award. Zaharia co-founded Databricks, where he drives innovation as CTO.

Born

April 21, 1985

Age

40 years

Source Of Wealth

Data Analytics

Industries

Technology

Citizenship

Romania

Residence

Berkeley, California

Education

Ph.D, University of California, Berkeley; Bachelor of Science, University of Waterloo

Matei Zaharia, a Romanian-Canadian computer scientist, educator, and creator of Apache Spark, was born on January 5, 1987, in Bucharest, Romania. His early years were spent in Romania, where he developed a passion for computer science and programming.

Matei Zaharia: Family

Zaharia's family played a significant role in his upbringing and education. His parents, both engineers, encouraged his interest in technology and provided him with the resources he needed to pursue his passion.

Matei Zaharia: Career Highlights

Zaharia's career is marked by several notable achievements and contributions to the field of computer science. Here are some of his key career highlights:

Gold medalist at the International Collegiate Programming Contest in 2005.
Contributed to water rendering physics in the open-source game 0 A.D.
Created Apache Spark as a faster alternative to MapReduce while at UC Berkeley's AMPLab in 2009.
Co-founded Databricks in 2013 and serves as Chief Technology Officer.
Joined the faculty of MIT in 2015 and became an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford University in 2016.
Spearheaded MLflow at Databricks while teaching in 2019.
Joined the faculty of UC Berkeley as an associate professor in 2023.

Matei Zaharia: Companies

Zaharia has been involved with several companies throughout his career, including:

Databricks (Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer)
Apache Software Foundation (Member)
University of California, Berkeley (Associate Professor)
Stanford University (Assistant Professor of Computer Science)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Faculty Member)

Matei Zaharia: Major Achievements

Zaharia's major achievements include:

Creating Apache Spark, a widely used open-source distributed computing framework.
Co-founding Databricks, a leading provider of data analytics software and cloud services.
Receiving the 2014 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award for his research on large-scale computing.
Receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2019.

Matei Zaharia: Awards & Achievements

Zaharia has received numerous awards and recognitions for his contributions to computer science, including:

2014 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award
2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
2020 IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award
2021 ACM Grace Hopper Award

Matei Zaharia: Personal Life & Legacy

Zaharia is known for his dedication to advancing the field of computer science and his commitment to open-source software.

He continues to inspire and mentor the next generation of computer scientists and engineers.

Matei Zaharia: Trivia

Here are some interesting facts about Matei Zaharia:

As of April 2022, he is ranked as the 3rd-richest person in Romania with a net worth of $1.6 billion (with Ion Stoica).
He graduated from Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Canada, and then studied at the University of Waterloo.
He contributed to water rendering physics in the open-source game 0 A.D. while at the University of Waterloo.

Wealth History

Timeline

2005

Gold medalist at the International Collegiate Programming Contest.

2009

Created Apache Spark as a faster alternative to MapReduce while at UC Berkeley's AMPLab.

2013

Co-founded Databricks and serves as Chief Technology Officer.

2014

Received the 2014 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award for his research on large-scale computing.

2015

Joined the faculty of MIT.

2016

Became an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford University.

2019

Received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

2019

Spearheaded MLflow at Databricks while teaching.

2023

Joined the faculty of UC Berkeley as an associate professor.

Matei Zaharia : FAQs

What is Matei Zaharia's current net worth?

Matei Zaharia's current net worth is $5.03 billion.

What is Matei Zaharia's current global rank among billionaires?

Matei Zaharia holds the 826th position globally among billionaires.

What is Matei Zaharia's current ranking within the Romania?

Matei Zaharia holds the 2nd position in Romania.

What was the change in Matei Zaharia's net worth compared to the previous year?

Matei Zaharia's net worth increased by 1.13 billion dollars compared to the previous year 2025, when his net worth was 3.90 billion dollars.

What are Matei Zaharia's main sources of wealth?

Matei Zaharia's main source of income comes from Data Analytics.

In which industry does Matei Zaharia primarily operate?

Matei Zaharia is primarily involved in the Technology industry.

What is Matei Zaharia educational background?

Matei Zaharia holds a Ph.D from the University of California from Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo.

How old is Matei Zaharia?

Matei Zaharia is 40 years old.

Who is Matei Zaharia and what is his contribution to computer science?

Matei Zaharia is a Romanian-Canadian computer scientist, educator, and the creator of Apache Spark, known for his substantial contributions to large-scale computing and the big data ecosystem.

What are some key accomplishments in Matei Zaharia's academic and professional career?

Key accomplishments in Matei Zaharia's career include winning a gold medal at the International Collegiate Programming Contest in 2005, creating Apache Spark, co-founding Databricks, and receiving prestigious awards such as the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2014.

How has Matei Zaharia's career in education evolved?

Matei Zaharia has had a distinguished career in education, joining the faculty of MIT in 2015, becoming an assistant professor at Stanford University in 2016, and later becoming an associate professor at UC Berkeley in 2023.

What notable contributions to software has Matei Zaharia made, and what are his current roles?

Beyond creating Apache Spark, Matei Zaharia contributed to the water rendering physics in the game 0 A.D. and spearheaded MLflow at Databricks. He currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Databricks and is an associate professor at UC Berkeley.