A Tribute To My Friend Raimund Genes
Credit to Author: Eva Chen| Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2017 12:00:26 +0000
On Friday, March 24, we at Trend Micro were saddened to learn that our chief technology officer, Raimund Genes, died unexpectedly at his family home in Germany. It is an incredible loss for us all, and one that still has us wishing it were not true. For me personally, I’m losing a wonderful, close friend and a member of our Trend Micro family. It is very difficult to find the right words to describe the sadness that we all feel at this moment; we are truly heartbroken.
I first came to know Raimund when he was a distributor for Trend Micro in Germany with his own business. In 1996, Jenny, Steve and I, the three co-founders of Trend Micro, were able to convince him to join our company, and he founded Trend Micro Deutschland GmbH, our subsidiary in Germany. I worked side by side with this beautiful soul for more than 21 years.
Raimund was an exceptional human being who possessed a passion for life and for the cybersecurity industry. His sense of humor and straightforwardness motivated me each time we sat down for a conversation. He had an innate leadership quality that made people take notice of his vision and knowledge. When he spoke, he inspired people, colleagues and his teams through his direction to go out and deliver innovative work, products, customer service and research that met his high standards.
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For Trend Micro, his passing is an incalculable loss, as we lose not only an amazing security expert, but also a true friend and mentor. The loss for the security industry as a whole is tremendous. With 30 years in the security industry, Raimund was one of the most articulate, well-respected experts whose opinions and knowledge were sought after by organizations around the world. He and his incredible team of forward threat researchers and developers relentlessly sought to detect and eradicate cyber threats with deep understanding of the threat landscape and creation of innovative solutions.
During his time at Trend Micro, Raimund held numerous senior management positions, including managing director for Trend Micro Germany, head of marketing and sales Europe, president of European operations and, most recently, global chief technology officer. His talent, intelligence, quick wit and passion made him an invaluable asset for our company.
At last week’s CeBIT in Hanover (Germany), Raimund gave his last public speech entitled Good vs. Evil. It was a passionate plea to fight the cybercriminals, the evil, to help make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Raimund fought with all his heart and passion to make this vision come true, day in and day out. I know Raimund is looking at us from far above and shouting: “Come on, we can’t let the bad guys win!” And we will not forget you, Raimund, ever. And I promise that we will continue your fight against the bad guys and we won’t let them win!
Raimund was a loving husband to his wife Martina and devoted father to his two sons. They were his anchor in his busy life.
Trend Micro and all our employees share with Raimund’s family and friends the immense sadness of his passing.
I know you, too, have great memories of Raimund – what he taught you, the times he made you rethink your approach or how he made you laugh. Please join me in sharing your sentiments in the “comments” section as we continue to honor the life of our dear friend.
Please click on the video below to see some of the highlights Raimund experienced with his fellow Trenders.