General Atlantic Names Steven A. Denning Chairman, William E. Ford President

GREENWICH, CT--General Atlantic LLC, a leading global private equity firm, today announced that Steven A. Denning, the firm's Managing Partner and Chairman of its Executive Committee, has been named Chairman of the firm, and William E. Ford, a Managing Director at the firm and Chairman of its Investment Committee, has been named President. General Atlantic focuses on investing in companies that provide information technology or use information technology to help drive growth.

The newly-created positions reflect the firm's leadership succession plans, and are effective immediately. Mr. Denning will continue to be responsible for General Atlantic's strategy and capital raising, and Mr. Ford will assume responsibility for the firm's operations and will continue to manage the firm's investment activities. Messrs. Denning and Ford, along with the firm's 15 other managing directors and 70 professionals based worldwide, will continue to seek outstanding investment opportunities globally and to add value by working closely with their management teams.

Mr. Denning stated, "General Atlantic has enjoyed a quarter century of success by operating our business not as a fund, but as a business, and by treating our portfolio companies not as investments, but as partners. Accordingly, we have taken great care to plan for our next 25 years of success, by significantly growing our global presence and capabilities since the early 1990s, by evolving our investment focus from information technology's niche years to its present-day ubiquity, and by establishing management continuity for our business.

"I am very pleased that Bill Ford will expand his responsibilities on behalf of General Atlantic as our President. As Chairman of our Investment Committee, Bill consistently has proven his value to our firm and our investors, just as he has for the many promising businesses that he has helped to become market leaders. Equally important, Bill has deep and genuine respect for the greatest asset we possess, our people. And at all levels of our organization, he earns great respect in return," Mr. Denning continued.

"I look forward to continuing my longstanding commitment to General Atlantic and to our partner companies, and as I look ahead I am more excited than ever by our opportunities and our global strategy," Mr. Denning concluded.

Mr. Denning co-founded General Atlantic in 1980 and has served as its Managing Partner since the early 1990's. Mr. Denning will continue to serve as Chairman of the firm's Executive Committee.

Mr. Ford joined General Atlantic in 1991. He has served as Chairman of the firm's Investment Committee since its formation in 2001, and will continue in this position.

Mr. Ford stated, "General Atlantic is a special firm. The discipline, dedication and talent of our people have produced exceptional results, and make me confident in our future. At a time when the economy is truly global and information technology can create tremendous value both for its providers and for its users in virtually every industry, General Atlantic's unique combination of global presence, successful track record, industry expertise and deep financial resources is formidable. I look forward to working with Steve and the Executive Committee to build on our success."

About Steven A. Denning
Mr. Denning co-founded General Atlantic in 1980 after working with McKinsey & Company as a consultant. He received an MBA from Stanford Business School in 1978. Prior to business school, Mr. Denning served six years in the U.S Navy, where he also obtained an MS degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He received a BS from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1970.

He is currently actively involved in a number of private and public information technology companies in the United States and Europe including Eclipsys Corporation, Gecis Global, Hewitt Associates, Liberata and SRA International. He is also a director of The Thomson Corporation.

Mr. Denning is a member of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University, the Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University and the Board of the American Museum of Natural History. He is also Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Parks Conservation Association and Chairman of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council.

About William E. Ford
Prior to joining General Atlantic, Mr. Ford worked at Morgan Stanley & Co. as an investment banker. Mr. Ford received his BA in Economics from Amherst College in 1983 and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1987.

Mr. Ford is director of several private and public companies, including SSA Global Technologies, Computershare, Archipelago and Multiplan. He has formerly served as a director of many prior GA investments including E*Trade and Priceline.

Mr. Ford is involved with a number of educational and not-for-profit organizations. Since 2001, he has served as a Trustee of Amherst College, and he chairs the Investment Committee, which oversees the College's endowment. He is also a member of the board of trustees of Common Ground Community, NYC2012, The Echoing Green Foundation and The Spence School.