Biography
Cole grew up in Kailua, Hawaii and graduated with a Liberal Arts Degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1975. In 1997, the university honored him with the UH Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2004 with an honorary doctorate degree.
From 1976 through 1980 he held a variety of positions, starting with selling Prentice-Hall textbooks, rising to become manager of a consulting firm serving emerging software companies. From 1981 through 1984 he was chairman, president and chief executive officer of software company Ashton-Tate. From 1985 through 1987 he was president of Ziff Communications, part of the Ziff Davis Publishing Group. Since the 1980s Cole invested in early-stage technology companies, including Macromedia, Shiva Corporation (acquired by Intel Corporation), and Tops, Inc. (acquired by Sun Microsystems Inc.). In 1993 Cole became chairman, president and chief executive officer of NaviSoft, an Internet-based software provider.
When NaviSoft was acquired by America Online in 1994, Cole became an AOL officer. At America Online, Cole initially was president of AOL’s Internet Services Company then president of AOL New Enterprises group. He held operating responsibility for AOL International, AOL Enterprises, Digital City and AOL corporate development.
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