James Goodnight

James Howard Goodnight is an American billionaire businessman and software developer. He has been the CEO of SAS Institute since 1976, which he co-founded that year with other faculty members of North Carolina State University. 

  • James Goodnight cofounded the analytics software firm SAS in 1976 with John Sall, whom he met while a PhD student at North Carolina State University.
  • Goodnight has been at the helm since the company’s inception, when its software was developed to analyze agricultural data.
  • Its products are now used by more than 83,000 organizations around the world, and 2018 revenue was $3.27 billion.
  • Goodnight and Sall, also a billionaire, founded private school Cary Academy together and co-own a country club and a hotel.

James Goodnight SAS Institute