Many, many people rode the computer technology wave to significant fortunes. The majority of the people who benefited from the rapid growth of computing were engineers and programmers. However, some people, recognizing that there was money to be made, turned their wealth of business intelligence into successful tech careers, without writing a single line of code. Such is the case with Irish businessman, George Moore. He excelled at targeted marketing and lead generation, and eventually turned those skills towards developing efficient and effective consumer information technology applications for business. Along the way, he amassed a net worth of $205.5 million.
George Moore was born in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, and moved to the United States after he graduated from college in the early 70s. He went on to become a principal and eventual Executive Vice President at National Decision Systems (NDS). The company was a successful target marketing organization based in southern California. After NDS purchased Equifax, he became Executive Vice President of that company, too. He also served as the Senior Vice President of CACI International in Washington, D.C. He sat on multiple boards, including the New Ireland Fund, the Economic Advisory Board to the Prime MInister of Ireland, Northern Ireland Trade and Investment Council, The Flax Trust, the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund, and he served as Chairman of Erne Heritage Holdings. He received numerous awards for both his business acumen and his philanthropic work.
In 1990, he founded Targus Information, more commonly referred to as TARGUSinfo. The company became the most successful lead generation firm in the world, harnessing digital innovation in a way that no other lead generation firm seemed able to match. Moore was known for being "larger than life", friendly to everyone, and accessible to all employees. The company grew rapidly, as his reputation for being an excellent employer attracted high quality staff. In 2012, he sold TARGUSinfo to Neustar, and the two companies began a surprisingly smooth integration process. He passed away unexpectedly in May of 2013. Hundreds of people attended his funeral in Ireland.
