Cloudflare vs Pfizer: Founders, CEOs and History
Cloudflare was founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway and is led by Matthew Prince. Pfizer was founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer, Charles Erhart and is led by Albert Bourla.
Company facts
Cloudflare
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Current CEO
- Matthew Prince
- Employees
- 5,156
Pfizer
- Founded
- 1849
- Headquarters
- New York, New York
- Current CEO
- Albert Bourla
- Employees
- 75,000
Founders
Cloudflare
Matthew Prince
Matthew Prince is Cloudflare's co-founder, CEO, and board chair. In 2004 he and Lee Holloway built Project Honey Pot, which let website owners track spammers harvesting email addresses but could not stop them.
Michelle Zatlyn
Michelle Zatlyn is Cloudflare's co-founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer, and a member of its board. She met Matthew Prince at Harvard Business School, where the two developed the business plan that became Cloudflare in 2009.
Lee Holloway
Lee Holloway co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 and was its first lead engineer and systems architect. He had earlier built Project Honey Pot with Matthew Prince starting in 2004, and he designed much of Cloudflare's early software infrastructure.
Pfizer
Charles Pfizer
Pfizer possesses a historic, immigrant founding story, rooted entirely in the rapid industrial expansion of 19th-century Brooklyn and defined by an effective, intensely meticulous German chemist and his ambitious confectioner cousin.
Charles Erhart
Charles Erhart's role in Pfizer's founding is less celebrated than his cousin's, partly because the company carries Charles Pfizer's name and partly because his commercial contributions were less visible than the scientific achievements that drove the company'…
CEOs and their tenures
Cloudflare
- Matthew Prince2009–present
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair
Co-founded Cloudflare in 2009, led it through its September 2019 NYSE IPO, and has grown annual revenue past $2 billion (2025) while expanding from web security into Zero Trust, developer, and AI services.
Source - Michelle Zatlyn2009–present
Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer
Co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 with Matthew Prince and Lee Holloway and, as President and COO, has led operations and company-building as Cloudflare scaled to more than 5,000 employees.
Source - Thomas Seifert2017–present
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, he consistently delivered high revenue growth while carefully controlling capital expenditures, allowing Cloudflare to heavily invest in its serverless Edge computing network.
Source
Pfizer
- Ian Read2010–2018
Chief Executive Officer
He ruthlessly cut R&D spending and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs, significantly boosting short-term earnings per share despite massive patent cliffs for blockbuster drugs like Lipitor.
Source - Albert Bourla2019–present
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020.
Source - Dave Denton2022–2026
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, he aggressively restructured the balance sheet following the Seagen acquisition, prioritizing debt reduction while defending the dividend.
Source - Chris Boshoff2025–present
Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development
He completely restructured the research and development organization to focus on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), aggressively expanding Pfizer's pipeline of cancer therapeutics.
Source - Cecile Guegan2026–present
Interim Chief Financial Officer
She modernized the company's internal auditing and compliance structures, ensuring rapid but safe clinical execution for high-priority vaccine programs.
Source
Timeline: Cloudflare and Pfizer side by side
1849Pfizer
Pfizer Founded
Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart founded the company in Brooklyn.
1944Pfizer
Penicillin Scale-Up
Pfizer helped industrialize penicillin production during World War II.
1998Pfizer
Viagra Approved
The FDA approved Viagra in 1998.
2000Pfizer
Warner-Lambert Deal
Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert, adding Lipitor.
2009Cloudflare
Cloudflare Founded
Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, and Lee Holloway founded Cloudflare, building on the Project Honey Pot spam-tracking project.
2010Cloudflare
TechCrunch Disrupt Launch
Cloudflare launched publicly at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in September 2010, offering free website protection and acceleration.
2014Cloudflare
Universal SSL and Project Galileo
Cloudflare gave free SSL certificates to all customers with Universal SSL and launched Project Galileo to protect at-risk nonprofits and journalists for free.
2017Cloudflare
Cloudflare Workers Announced
Cloudflare introduced Workers, a serverless platform built on V8 isolates that lets developers run code across its network.
2019Cloudflare
NYSE IPO
Cloudflare completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NET in September 2019 at $15 per share, raising about $525 million.
2019Pfizer
Albert Bourla becomes CEO
Albert Bourla became CEO of Pfizer in 2019. A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020.
2020Cloudflare
Cloudflare One Launched
Cloudflare bundled its Zero Trust access, secure web gateway, and network services into Cloudflare One, its SASE platform.
2020Pfizer
BioNTech COVID Vaccine Partnership
Pfizer and BioNTech brought Comirnaty through emergency authorization.
2022Cloudflare
Area 1 Security and R2 General Availability
Cloudflare acquired email security company Area 1 Security for about $162 million and made R2 zero-egress object storage generally available.
2023Pfizer
Seagen Acquisition
Pfizer completed the $43 billion Seagen acquisition.
2024Cloudflare
Revenue Reaches $1.67 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2024 revenue of $1.67 billion and free cash flow of $166.9 million.
2025Cloudflare
Revenue Passes $2 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2025 revenue of $2.17 billion (+29.8%) and closed its largest contract ever, averaging $42.5 million per year in ACV.
2025Pfizer
Chris Boshoff Becomes CSO
Chris Boshoff became Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development effective January 1, 2025.
2025Pfizer
Metsera Acquisition
Pfizer completed its acquisition of obesity drug developer Metsera in November 2025 for up to about $10 billion including CVRs.
2025Pfizer
FY2025 Revenue Base
Pfizer reported $62.579 billion of FY2025 revenue.
2026Cloudflare
VoidZero Acquisition and Growth Acceleration
Cloudflare acquired VoidZero, the company behind the Vite JavaScript tooling ecosystem, in June 2026 and reported Q2 2026 revenue growth of 36%.
2026Pfizer
Innovent Oncology Collaboration
Pfizer signed a 12-program cancer collaboration with Innovent Biologics: $650 million upfront and up to $9.85 billion in milestones.
Acquisitions
Cloudflare
- Human Native2026Undisclosed
- Astro Technology Company2026Undisclosed
- VoidZero2026Undisclosed
- Replicate2025Undisclosed
- Nefeli Networks2024Undisclosed
- Baselime2024Undisclosed
Pfizer
- Metsera, Inc.2025$7B
- Seagen Inc.2023$43B
- Medivation Inc.2016$14B
- Wyeth2009$68B
- Pharmacia Corporation2003$60B
- Warner-Lambert Company2000$111B
Questions about Cloudflare vs Pfizer
Who is the CEO of Cloudflare, Inc. and Pfizer Inc.?
Cloudflare, Inc. is led by Matthew Prince and Pfizer Inc. is led by Albert Bourla. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Cloudflare, Inc. founded vs Pfizer Inc.?
Pfizer Inc. was founded in 1849 — 160 years before Cloudflare, Inc., which was founded in 2009. Pfizer Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Cloudflare, Inc..
How many employees does Cloudflare, Inc. have compared to Pfizer Inc.?
Cloudflare, Inc. employs approximately 5,156 people, while Pfizer Inc. employs approximately 75,000. Pfizer Inc. has the larger workforce at 75,000 employees, compared to Cloudflare, Inc.'s 5,156. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Cloudflare, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. headquartered?
Both Cloudflare, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Cloudflare, Inc. and Pfizer Inc.?
Cloudflare, Inc. was founded by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway. Pfizer Inc. was founded by Charles Pfizer, Charles Erhart.
Which company has a longer operating history — Cloudflare, Inc. or Pfizer Inc.?
Pfizer Inc. has been operating for approximately 177 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Cloudflare, Inc. has been in operation for around 17 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Cloudflare vs Pfizer overview