Check Point CEO Wins First Israel Prize In High-Tech

March 5, 2018 | Check Point CEO Gil Shwed was announced as the recipient of the first-ever Israel Prize for innovation and high-tech. Shwed is the co-founder of the Israeli cybersecurity giant. The new category for the prestigious prize was introduced this year by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who took to Twitter to congratulate Shwed. “Gil Shwed is a Startup National pioneer,” Bennett wrote. “His story is the story of Israeli high-tech. As a graduate of the 8200 IDF intelligence unit who founded Check Point, he blazed the trail and served as an inspiration for me and for thousands of Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs.” Israel Innovation Authority Chief Aharon Aharon said in a statement that “no one was more deserving than Gil Shwed to be the first to win the prize.” Founded in 1993 by Shwed, Marius Nacht and Shlomo Kramer, Check Point went public in 1996. Considered one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies, Check Point provides solutions that protect customers from cyber attacks, including malware and other types of threats. Shwed was quoted by Globes as saying he was “moved” to receive the prize, “especially in an area so greatly associated with our country and Israeli society. The prize may have been given to me, but all the Check Point employees in the past 25 years deserve it.” He added, “Israel is a wonder, and our industry, the high-tech industry, is turning the spirit of innovation here into products that are improving the world and changing the lives of everyone in the world, regardless of where they live.”