Founding Chairman and CEO of Napster, Joins Savtira Board

TAMPA - John Fanning, founding chairman and CEO of the original, peer-to-peer music file sharing service, Napster, has joined the advisory board of Tampa-based cloud commerce provider Savtira. Fanning, also founder of NetMovies, a joint venture with Blockbuster, recently joined Savtira’s advisory board as a resource of knowledge in tech specialties such as streaming, distribution of content aggregation and video-on-demand.

“John is a pioneer in Internet technologies with a valiant appetite for disruptive innovation that introduces new possibilities and opportunities on a business-to-business and business-to-consumer scale,” said Savtira CEO, Timothy Roberts.

Fanning founded Napster with his nephew, Shawn Fanning, in 1998. Napster, now an online music store, is owned and operated by Best Buy. With more than 20 years of experience in Internet and technology, Fanning has introduced such net-related innovations as client-server game play, voice over IP, and auto-upgrading/authentication. He holds patents for Real Time Search Engine, and Use Sensitive Distribution of Data Files Between Users. Since 1994, he founded numerous successful Internet ventures including, Napster, NetGames, NetMovies, and NetCapital.

“I have been present to witness the birth of many great companies including eBay, Google and Facebook. In my opinion, Savtira’s cloud commerce platform has the qualities that fill a massive void in the market landscape,” said Fanning. “I look forward to working with the company and playing a substantial role on the advisory board.”

Fanning is known not only as an Internet entrepreneur but also as a financial guru from his work at NetCapital in helping finance early state Internet companies and from having worked at Fidelity Investments in Boston. Additionally, Fanning’s pioneering expands from the music industry to games on and off a virtual arena. In collaboration with partners, Fanning built the first Internet chess server, a project that led to the development of Chess.net, an Internet chess service that is currently owned by NetGames and part of the NetCapital portfolio. NetCapital is a boutique equity firm where Fanning serves as the Chairman.

“John’s background in technology, along with his financial expertise makes him a true asset to our board,” said Roberts. “The level of experience and knowledge is insurmountable; and the possibilities to learn and grow are endless with such strong professionals like John guiding our company toward success.”