Equinix

Type:	Public,
Industry:	Internet,
Founded:	California, 1998
Founder(s):	Jay Adelson & Al Avery
Headquarters:	One Lagoon Drive 4th Floor Redwood City, CA 94065
Country:	USA
Employees:	1921 as of Feb. 2011
Revenue:	$1.2 billion as of 2010
Website:	www.equinix.com
Twitter:	@equinix
Key People
Stephen M. Smith, CEO & President Keith D. Taylor, Chief Financial Officer Charles J. Meyers, President, Equinix North America Eric Schwartz, President, Equinix Europe Samuel Lee, President, Equinix Asia-Pacific

Equinix, Inc., is a company providing data center services for the protection and connection of information assets for various businesses such as content providers, financial companies, and network service providers, including cloud and IT services companies. It operates IBX international business data centers within 35 markets across North America, Europe, and Asia.

History

Jay Adelson and Al Avery founded Equinix, Inc. on June 22, 1998. Their idea was to provide physical interconnection between networks on the internet through a neutral party which they called Neutral Internet Exchange (NIX). The founders guiding principles were equality, neutrality and eliminating the middle man, with a vision to unite major networks and interconnect content companies. The first IBX Data Center was opened in Ashburn, Virginia, on July 27, 1999.

Company Growth & Expansion

In order to attract networks, Equinix management used "match making" with content companies. AT & T and UUNet were the first two major networks interconnected using IBX Data Center, seven major companies followed and established a Point of Presence (PoP) in the company's data centers between 1999-2000. By August 2000, Equinix IPO raised over $270 million.

On December 31, Equinix acquired i-STT, a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Telemedia, which provides internet infrastructure services, and Pihana Pacific, a data hosting and Web connection centers operator in Honolulu.

In 2003, Equinix entered and expanded several network provider customer agreements with Telekom Malaysia, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, REACH, Japan Telecom, as well as with the its existing customers Hutchison Global Communications, PCCW, Asia Netcom, SingTel, StarHub and Internet Initiative Japan Inc. making the company's business offerings available in major Asian networks via IBX centers in Asia and the U.S.

Between 2005 to 2007, the company leased seven new data centers, built next generation IBX centers that are more equipped to handle high power density operations. It also opened new IBX centers in Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, acquired and expanded its data center in Tokyo and Singapore. Equinix also acquired IXEurope, a move intensifying its position to become one of the leading global data center and interconnection providers.

Ten years after the company's inception, Equinix President and CEO, Steve Smitch announced the re-branding of Internet Business Exchange (IBX) data centers, calling them International Business Exchanges. It also launched its first Global Roaming Exchange (GRX) center in North America at its Washington DC area IBX. Equinix recorded a continuous growth in its business, expanding its operations in different markets around the world.

Acquisitions

Equinix has made a number of acquisitions over the years, including:

• April, 2004- purchased a 103,000 square feet data center in San Jose, CA
• September, 2005-purchased a new site for the Los Angeles data center
• January, 2007- acquired a data center in Tokyo
• September, 2007-acquired IXEurope, one of the leading provider of Colocation services in Europe, for $482 million
• April, 2011- Equinix and Riverwood Capital, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of about 90 percent of ALOG Data Centers of Brazil S.A. The company invested an estimated $83 million in cash. Under the agreement Equinix will hold a controlling interest over ALOG while Riverwood Capital will have a minority stake. The acquisition will give Equinix the leverage to tap the South American Market.

Corporate Rankings

In 2009, Equinix was ranked as the 16th fastest growing tech company by Forbes.

The company ranked 307 on the Deloitte Technolgy Fast 500 in 2010. The ranking was based on the fiscal year revenue growth percentage from 2005–2009.

ICANN and Equinix

Equinix senior network engineer Louis Lee served as Chairman of ICANN's Address Supporting Organization, from the American Registry for Internet Numbers region, from 2004 to 2010.