Michael Widenius
Chief Technology Officer at MariaDB Foundation
Tuusula, Finland
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolMichael Widenius is the creator of MySQL and co-creator of MariaDB, a veteran database architect and current CTO with over a decade of recent experience steering open-source SQL server development from Finland. He combines hands-on backend engineering—recently optimizing MariaDB’s performance schema, memory handling, and atomic DDL locking—with strategic leadership as founder of the MariaDB Foundation and partner at venture firm OpenOcean. His career traces the full history of modern open-source databases, from early UNIREG work through MySQL AB and Sun to leading community-driven forks that prioritize stability, features, and sane licensing. Known for shipping production-hardened database internals, he also performs technical due diligence for investors, bridging deep engineering insight with business and ecosystem stewardship. An understated but telling detail: his contributions focus not just on features but on low-level robustness (memory fixes and atomic operations) that keep millions of instances reliable in the wild.
12 years of coding experience
37 years of employment as a software developer
Teknillinen korkeakoulu-Tekniska högskolanBrobergska skolan
Github Skills (14)
database-tuning10
query-optimization10
performance-monitor10
c-language10
performance-monitoring10
cprogramming-language10
sql10
optimisation10
mysql10
mariadb10
optimization10
database-optimization10
replication9
multithreading8
Programming languages (6)
Github contributions (5)
MariaDB/server
Mar 2014 - Jan 2023
MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. Started by core members of the original MySQL team, MariaDB actively works with outside developers to deliver the most featureful, stable, and sanely licensed open SQL server in the industry.
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer & Database Engineer / Database Administrator
Back-end Developer & Database Engineer / Database AdministratorContributions:30 reviews, 2071 commits, 11 PRs in 9 years
Contributions summary:Michael's contributions primarily focused on optimizing the performance schema within the MariaDB server, including modifications to improve performance schema's interactions and efficiency in default installations. The user also addressed memory allocation errors and incorrect handling of row data, and updated the code to support improved performance. Furthermore, the user implemented atomic operations, like supporting an improved locking mechanism for create, drop and alter commands to make the database code more robust.
licensedsql-servermysqlsqlmariadb-server
wweverma1/server
Jul 2020 - Mar 2022
MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. Started by core members of the original MySQL team, MariaDB actively works with outside developers to deliver the most featureful, stable, and sanely licensed open SQL server in the industry.
Contributions:74 commits in 1 year 8 months
licensedsql-servermysqlsqlmariadb-server
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