Nginx founder Igor Sysoev leaves the company behind web server software

Igor Sysoev, founder and developer of web server software Nginx, is retiring from Nginx and networking company F5, which has owned Nginx since 2019. Sysoev wants to free up more time for family and friends and focus on personal projects.

Sysoev wrote the first version of web server software Nginx in 2002. In 2004 he made the software open source and developed it into a ‘Swiss army knife’ for web applications and services, Nginx writes in a blog post. In 2011, he founded Nginx Inc. op, the company behind the software, along with two others, with headquarters in San Francisco and several offices worldwide. According to Netcraft, hundreds of millions of websites now use Nginx software.

Igor Sysoev

Nginx was acquired in 2019 by the American network company F5 Networks for $ 670 million. Sysoev stayed behind the scenes, including as CTO, and interfered with Nginx’s vision, and ensured the open source nature of the software. In 2019, Sysoev was arrested by the Russian authorities for possible copyright infringement, because Sysoev developed the Nginx when he was employed by the Russian search engine Rambler.ru as a system administrator and web server developer. In late 2019, the charges were dropped by the Rambler board.

It is not yet known what Sysoev will do next. He has not announced any new projects yet. Nginx says he wants to spend more time with family and friends and focus on personal projects.