What is George Cacioppo’s net worth?
George Cacioppo has achieved a lot over an illustrious 45-year career in the tech industry and has a net worth of $7 million.
The former New Yorker has risen to the top of his field over more than four decades, excelling in operations and innovations and—at one point—bringing Sony Interactive Entertainment’s PlayStation Network back from the brink of destruction.
He was long hailed as a visionary and has received awards in recognition of his work for the gaming console giant.
In 2021, he was PlayStation’s Senior Vice President of Engineering.
Unless you’re well versed in the who’s who of the tech world, though, most people won’t know George Cacioppo for any of these achievements.
What they may know him for is the YouTube sting operation that led to his total fall from grace, and the collapse of a career that took nearly 50 years to build.
In this article, we’re unpacking the story of George Cacioppo’s life—from the start to his infamous 2021 downfall.
Let’s get started.
The Origin Story
George Anthony Cacioppo Jr. was born on October 25, 1957, in Suffolk County, New York.
His parents are George Anthony Sr. and Anita Cacioppo. Sadly, George’s father passed away at the age of 47, in New York.
George Junior was 20 years old at the time.
Born and raised in New York, George Cacioppo spent a considerable amount of his career in the Northeast.
He spent some time living in Massachusetts, before moving to California in the early 2000s.
Wife
Cacioppo and his wife—who at this stage were expanding their family—made the move to the West Coast of the US. In 2007.
Eventually, the family laid down roots in San Diego, California.
Cacioppo and his wife have five children together.
Career
Cacioppo’s successful career in the engineering and technology sectors began in 1978.
He started out with Hazeltine Industrial Products as a software engineer in Greenlawn, New York, fresh out of college.
He worked doing custom coding for a defense electronics company.
Hazeltine would eventually be acquired by GEC-Marconi, and then by British Aerospace, becoming BAE Systems CNIR in 2002.
When Cacioppo left Hazeltine Corporation, he was snatched up by Digital Equipment Corporation as an engineering manager.
This is where his eye for innovation came to the fore, and the role was followed with a position as VP of Software Development with Adobe in 1992. Note – here is our article about Adobe co-founder Charles Geschke.
George would spend the next 12 years in the role, and lead a team managing contracts worth over $200 million, before packing up his family and heading to the opposite side of the country for his next role.
Cacioppo took up the title of Vice President of Engineering at PalmSource Holdings in March of 2005—a role that took his family to sunny California.
Immersed now in the world of smartphones (if you’re old enough, you’ll remember the Palm Pilot), George worked in the development of new mobile devices.
Always credited as an expert in troubleshooting, the experienced leader built a team of product management and technical experts to manage operations.
The job at PalmSource would be one of his shortest terms in any position, as he was lured away by TurboTax—which falls under the Intuit umbrella.
From March 2008 until 2013, he worked as the Vice President of Software Engineering, indirectly generated more than $1.6 billion in sales revenue, and won the company’s 2010 Intuit CEO Leadership Award.
Senior Vice President of Engineering at PlayStation
In arguably his biggest role to date, Cacioppo joined Sony Interactive Entertainment at PlayStation in 2013.
The company was struggling at the time—facing technical issues, lack of monitoring and oversight, and failure to resolve customer service complaints.
PlayStation’s reputation—and its performance—needed a full overhaul.
Cacioppo stepped up to achieve that. In 2021, he received the Sony Group Technology Award for Leadership.
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Scandal
2021 was a year of incredible career highs for Cacioppo—followed by a devastating low when he was filmed as part of a sting operation by People V. Preds.
San Diego police confirmed in December 2021 that Cacioppo was under investigation after the video—which was uploaded to YouTube—showed him allegedly arranging a meeting with a 15-year-old minor male for sexual purposes.
The video showed details of an alleged conversation between Cacioppo and a decoy 15-year-old boy, followed by Cacioppo waiting outside his home to meet the “boy.”
Instead, the People V. Preds camera crew was there to question him.
Representatives for Sony issued an emailed statement to say they were “aware of the situation, and the employee in question has been terminated from employment.”
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Net Worth
So, how much is George Cacioppo worth?
Cacioppo earned most of his wealth from working for Sony Interactive Entertainment from 2013 to 2021.
He also worked for Intuit, PalmSource Holding Co, Adobe, and Digital Equipment Corporation.
Therefore, George Cacioppo has an estimated net worth of $7 million.
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