The co-founder and CEO helped CrowdStrike re-establish credibility. By Adam Levine

In July 2024, CrowdStrike Holdings pushed out an update to its cybersecurity software that took down more than eight million Windows computers. It was one of the biggest software meltdowns of all time, and the stock declined by 36% in the next two weeks.

But crises like this are tests of leadership, and CEO George Kurtz passed with flying colors.

"The biggest lesson learned is you gotta get in front of this stuff, you have to take accountability for it," says Kurtz. "The biggest thing that came out of this was earning even more trust from our customers because we didn't shy away from it."

Four months after the incident, the stock had already recovered. If you bought it the day before the disaster, your money has doubled.

In the past year, Kurtz's focus has been reshaping CrowdStrike's software for artificial intelligence, which accelerates traditional attacks and creates new ones. Through acquisitions, the company is positioning itself to remain one of the leading security providers.

Kurtz, 55, was one of the founders of security firm Foundstone in 1999, which was acquired by McAfee in 2004. He worked there as chief technology officer until co-founding CrowdStrike in 2011.

Write to Adam Levine at adam.levine@barrons.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 19, 2026 21:31 ET (01:31 GMT)

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