America’s Top Major League Baseball Team General Manager Joins NetSuite Board of Directors
SAN MATEO, Calif.— January 4, 2007—NetSuite, Inc., the leader in on-demand business software suites, today announced that Billy Beane was appointed to NetSuite's board of directors. As one of the most progressive and talented baseball executives in the game today, Mr. Beane is the general manager of Major League Baseball, Oakland A's. Known for taking one of the most traditional businesses in America — professional baseball — and redefining its most basic tenets, Mr. Beane has leveraged the power of mathematics to manage his team by using sophisticated statistical analysis in addition to traditional "gut instinct." Mr. Beane's executive talents and the organisation's baseball philosophy were the subject of Michael Lewis' best-selling book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game," which opened the eyes of many of the top sports executives and business CEOs from any industry or profession in the nation. For more information on NetSuite's board of directors please visit: www.netsuite.com/board.
"Billy's outrageously successful approach in changing the game of baseball by managing using facts to supplement instinct is very similar to the transformation our customers undergo when they move their business to NetSuite," said Evan Goldberg, chairman, co-founder, and CTO of NetSuite. "We are all excited about the insight Billy will bring to NetSuite and our customers."
"I am very excited to be part of the NetSuite team," said Mr. Beane. "I have seen first hand how NetSuite helps the A's run our sales and marketing organisations more effectively, and I look forward to helping other companies use our knowledge to improve the performance of their organisations."
The Oakland Athletics have been a perennial postseason contender since Mr. Beane took over the general manager's duties in 1998, and in 2006 the team continued its winning ways by advancing to the American League Championship Series. The A's have compiled a 825-632- (.573) record over the last nine seasons, which is the second-best record in the American League and third best in all of baseball during that time frame, won three American League West titles (2000; 2002-03) and secured one AL Wild Card spot (2001). And they have done this all while having one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball.
In addition, Oakland A's players have won numerous individual accolades over the last eight seasons, including two American League Most Valuable Player awards, a pair of AL Rookie of the Year honors and one AL Cy Young Award. The organisation's farm system has also flourished under Mr. Beane. The A's have earned Organisation of the Year honors three times under Mr. Beane (1998 Topps; 1999 Baseball America, Topps, Howe Sports Data; 2004 Topps).
Mr. Beane joined the A's front office staff in 1990 as the club's major league advance scout. In 1993, he was promoted to the assistant general manager's position. And in late 1997 he assumed the general manager's duties.
Earlier in his career, he was a first round draft pick (23rd overall) of the New York Mets in the 1980 June Free Agent Draft. He played six major league seasons as an infielder, outfielder and catcher for the Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Oakland A's. His final season in uniform was 1989 when he was a utility player on the A's World Championship team. Mr. Beane retired as an active player in the spring of 1990.
Mr. Beane is a frequent speaker before some of the top companies in the nation. He also sits on the Board of Directors for a number of companies such as Riddell, the official helmet company of the NFL and PROTRADE, a sports entertainment company.
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