Workday Billionaire Dave Duffield Builds Third Billion Dollar Software Company With Ridgeline

Billionaire software entrepreneur Dave Duffield is positioning Ridgeline, his cloud technology company for the investment management industry, as the latest major business in a career that has already produced two publicly listed enterprise software companies, PeopleSoft and Workday. As reported by Forbes, Duffield has a net worth of about $11.3 billion as of September 2026 and founded Ridgeline in 2017 after helping build Workday into a major provider of human resources and financial software. Ridgeline is designed as an integrated cloud platform covering functions including trading, accounting, compliance and investment operations.

Duffield has invested about $400 million of his own money into Ridgeline, according to Bloomberg reporting cited by the company, as the business expands its customer base and assets managed through its platform. Ridgeline previously reported more than $200 billion in assets on its platform and was targeting $1 trillion, while its customer base included investment firms such as Allen & Co. Cornell University, where Duffield recently pledged $371.5 million, describes Ridgeline as his sixth enterprise software company and says it has grown to more than 500 employees.

Ridgeline’s growth reflects the wider transformation of investment management technology, as financial institutions increasingly move core operations to cloud based systems and seek integrated platforms capable of handling large volumes of data and increasingly sophisticated workflows. Duffield has previously taken PeopleSoft and Workday public at valuations above $1 billion, and Financial Times reported that he hopes Ridgeline will eventually provide a third initial public offering, potentially creating another billion dollar technology company under his leadership. The trajectory makes Ridgeline a closely watched enterprise software business, particularly as it expands its customer base, increases assets on the platform and works towards the scale required for a potential IPO.