Kudelski SA is a Swiss company that sells digital television access and management systems, content protection solutions, cybersecurity solutions, Internet of Things products and public access infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne and Phoenix, Arizona. Kudelski's first successful product was the Nagra tape recorder, developed by founder and Polish-born researcher Stefan Kudelski.[1]

Kudelski SA
Company typePublic
SIXKUD
IndustryDigital TV, public access, cybersecurity, Internet of things
Founded1951; 73 years ago (1951)
FounderStefan Kudelski
HeadquartersCheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland and Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
Key people
  • André Kudelski (CEO)
  • Mauro Saladini (CFO)
  • Morten Solbakken (COO)
  • Nancy Goldberg (CMO)
Revenue778'800 kUSD (2021)
Number of employees
3233 (2022)
Websitewww.nagra.com

André Kudelski, the son of founder Stefan Kudelski, became the chief executive officer in 1991.[2] The rest of the executive board includes chief financial officer Mauro Saladini, chief operating officer Morten Solbakken, and executive vice president Nancy Goldberg.[3]

History

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Kudelski Group was founded in 1951 by Stefan Kudelski,[4] while he was an engineering student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL). The company's first product was the Nagra I, a reel-to-reel tape recorder, which weighed 11 pounds and measured 5"x7"x12" (roughly the size of a shoe box). It was succeeded by the Nagra II in 1953, which improved sound quality with additional mechanical filters.[5]

Kudelski released the Nagra III tape recorder in 1958, which could synchronize sound with the frames on a reel of film, which became popular for on-location filming. It was used by directors including François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, and D. A. Pennebaker.[4] The Nagra SN, or Série Noir, was released in 1970, which was originally designed for use by the United States Secret Service.[6] Kudelski later expanded into television services, providing its access control system for pay television to Canal+ in 1989.[7]

André Kudelski replaced his father, Stefan Kudelski, as chief executive officer in 1991 following pressure from investors.[2]

In 2001, Kudelski Group entered the Public Access sector with the acquisition of SKIDATA, an Austrian company specialised in access systems for people and vehicles.

OpenTV, an internet and digital television company was fully acquired by the Kudelski Group on March 29, 2010.[8]

Kudelski Group entered the cybersecurity sector with the creation in 2012 of Kudelski Security. In order to identify and remediate cyber-attacks, Kudelski Security operates Cyber Fusion Centers in Switzerland, Spain and the United States.

In 2016, the company opened a second headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. The same year, it launched Insight, the Group's artificial intelligence and big data business performance platform.

Kudelski IoT was created in 2017, together with the launch of the Group's Internet of Things Security Center of Excellence to address demand for increased protection of connected devices.[citation needed]

Subsidiaries

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References

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  1. ^ Vitello, Paul (2013-02-01). "Stefan Kudelski, Polish Inventor of Recorder That Changed Hollywood, Dies at 83". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  2. ^ a b "The Next Big Bet". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  3. ^ "Executive Board | Kudelski Group". www.nagra.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  4. ^ a b Vitello, Paul (2013-02-01). "Stefan Kudelski, Polish Inventor of Recorder That Changed Hollywood, Dies at 83". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  5. ^ "The Academy Award-winning NAGRA RECORDER". Film Sound Sweden. June 1996. Archived from the original on 2022-07-29. Retrieved 2022-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "Nagra SN (1970 - 2006)". Museum of Obsolete Media. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  7. ^ "Historical milestones | Kudelski Group". www.nagra.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  8. ^ "KUDELSKI GROUP COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF OPENTV | Kudelski Group". www.nagra.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.