Primary Job Title Managing Director Primary Organization 
Zenerji
Gender Male
Investor Type Investor Stage Number of Exits
Addison M. Fischer has been a computer entrepreneur since creating his first high-tech startup company in 1973, and has been involved in seed venture capital investing since the early 1980s.
Addison was very active in the early days of computer security. Throughout most of the 80's and 90's he supported the importance of public key
encryption as a critical aspect of the future infrastructure of the global economy and communications. For nearly a decade he shouldered financial responsibility for preserving the nascent RSA Data Security company long before the technology was commercially viable. For a number of years he held controlling interest in RSA, and was responsible for helping develop and fund the initial resources used to start Verisign (initially known as Digital Certification Inc.). Together with RSA's CEO, the distinguished D. James Bidzos, and its chairman, Dr. Ronald Rivest, Addison is often credited with defining major aspects of the computer security corporate landscape as it appears today.
Addison's seminal paper Electronic Document Authorization, as well its companion paper WorkFlow 2020, laid out many of the innovations which have since been incorporated into widely-used commercial products such as Java.
Addison is Chairman of a number of private companies' board of directors. He founded Fischer International Systems Corporation, a communications software provider to the Global 2000 and presently serves as its Chairman. He was also the founder of VeriSign, as well as co-owner, with Mr. Stanley Druckenmiller, of Duquesne Capital Management.
Addison was a member of official committees that set U.S. standards for computer security and electronic commerce. He has addressed the U.S. Congress, by invitation, on several topics, including digital signature standards, proposed FBI digital telephony legislation, and global U.S. competitiveness. He holds numerous U.S. and international patents, and is author of the seminal document security paper, "Electronic Document Authorization". He holds Mathematics degrees, including an Honorary Ph.D., from West Virginia University.
