Gil Shwed: "I don't know if today I would register Check Point in Israel"
Gil Shwed: "I don't know if today I would register Check Point in Israel"
"I have been keeping my opinions to myself for 30 years. I wish that if I voiced my opinion it would make a difference to someone, unfortunately it will not have an effect," the CEO of Check Point added
After years of avoiding political issues, the CEO and co-founder of Check Point, Gil Shwed, made a surprising statement on Wednesday. "For years we fought for the registration of our activity in Israel and we have been here for 30 years, but I don't know if this is what would have happened today. Neither on the economic side nor on the political side," he said.
Until now, Shwed has been one of the few high-tech CEOs who refrained from speaking about the Israeli government's judicial overhaul, and he explained his stance on Wednesday at a press conference held following the release of the company's financial reports for the second quarter of 2023: "The recent events are difficult for all of us, we see the rift in Israeli society and it hurts us all. I am focused on ensuring that this rift will not be part of Check Point. It is not easy, but we succeed because we leave politics out of the company. Our employees can demonstrate and participate, and we are in favor of democracy, but this is the line we decided on a long time ago. There were employees who came and said 'thank you for making it possible to work in a pleasant environment.' That way we can accommodate everyone."
He also added: "I have been keeping my opinions to myself for 30 years. I wish that if I voiced my opinion it would make a difference to someone, unfortunately it will not have an effect."
Regarding the question of whether more workers at Check Point are requesting relocation away from Israel, Shwed responded: "I don't believe in relocation, and it doesn't exist in our model. There are no requests for relocation, only remote work. It is very important to be in Israel, and even if I meet Israelis who want to move abroad, I convince them to stay in Israel. I am also proud that there were Israelis in the companies we acquired who lived abroad, and I convinced them to return to Israel."
Check Point celebrated its 30th anniversary over the past quarter and achieved a milestone of $30 billion in cumulative revenue since its establishment in 1993.
In response to the report released by Moody's regarding the judicial overhaul in Israel on Tuesday, Shwed expressed concern: "This should definitely worry us, the Israeli economy is very important to us, and when there is a negative recommendation, it is not good. We should be concerned and hope that the situation will change."
Despite the concerns about the economy, the company's performance in the second quarter remained stable. Check Point ended the quarter with revenues of $589 million, which were within the forecast range and reflected a modest increase of 3%-4% compared to the corresponding and previous quarters. The subscription segment showed growth of 14%, mainly driven by e-mail security solutions acquired through the purchase of Avanan for $300 million in 2021.
