Rick Baldridge, President & COO, ViaSat

ViaSat – Pushing the Limits of Innovation

From a Carlsbad startup to 30 years later, ViaSat Inc has grown into a global broadband services & technology company that ensures consumers, businesses, governments and military personnel have communications access – anywhere – whether on the ground or in-flight. The company’s innovations in designing highest-capacity satellites and securing ground infrastructure and terminal technologies, coupled with its international network of managed Wi-Fi hotspots, enable ViaSat to deliver a best-available network that extends the reach and accessibility of broadband internet service, globally. Rick Baldridge, President & COO, shares how ViaSat is connecting the world and pushing the limits.

Rick Baldridge is responsible for leading corporate strategy and operations for the ViaSat organization as a whole, guiding and evaluating the company’s three operating segments (Services, Commercial, and Government), and cultivating and maintaining relations with the investor community. Mr. Baldridge joined ViaSat in April 1999 as vice president and chief financial officer, added the positions of executive vice president and COO in July 2000, and was appointed president in November 2003.

During his tenure, ViaSat has grown organically and through acquisitions by more than a factor of 10, to a multi-billion dollar enterprise. His leadership has helped build the organization from a small business to a major prime contractor and technology partner to companies worldwide, including a transition from a product manufacturer to a global service provider.