FalconStor Founder ReiJane Huai Dead of Apparent Suicide
ReiJane Huai, 52, founder of the Long Island-based storage company FalconStor, died Sept. 26, 2011, following a gunshot wound to the chest, which authorities believe was self-inflicted. Huai’s apparent suicide occurred roughly one year after he resigned from his CEO position at FalconStor amid a federal inquiry involving accounting questions.
In September 2010, The VAR Guy reported on Huai’s resignation, including the official statement:
Mr. Huai tendered his resignation following his disclosure that certain improper payments were allegedly made in connection with the Company’s contract with one customer.
The New York Post has reported that Huai soon would have been dealing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was probing a potential insider trading allegation in which “he and other top execs dealt 125,000 shares of stock at a artificially inflated price of $545,000.” Huai’s suicide reportedly came as a shock to all who knew him. Huai is survived by his wife and his adult children.
Huai’s legacy in the storage space will live on. He was CEO of Cheyenne Software, a data backup and recovery provider that was acquired by CA Technologies, which he then joined as vice president. Huai subsequently left CA and built FalconStor, bringing a robust base of former Cheyenne and CA Technologies brass with him. FalconStor, now headed by CEO James P. McNiel, continues to grow and focus on the IT channel.
Disclosure: The VAR Guy co-founder Joe Panettieri worked at Cheyenne Software in 1996, interacting with Huai from time to time as Cheyenne pushed into the Windows NT backup market. Within the halls of Cheyenne, Panettieri said, Huai was considered a technical visionary — often hosting white board meetings well into the evening with his lieutenants.
Huai, Panettieri said, seemed to always see a new opportunity in the storage market. And Huai was particularly loyal to developers who delivered code that fulfilled his storage vision.
So sad to read this. May he rest in peace.
I liked ReiJane, and was shocked to hear the news. I worked for him indirectly during my days at CA when I became CEO of EverTrac, a CA/UMC funded JV. Always smiling, very smart.
Shocking to believe he did this. RIP.
Imran Anwar
IMRAN.TV
I knew Reijane during my time at Falc. He was a good guy, the news of his death was a shock to all of us. May he rest in peace.
Hi Unicorn, Imran, JR: I wish the comments we were all sharing did not involve such tragic news.
Here’s the thing I remember best about ReiJane: I was 26 years old when I joined Cheyenne. I was sort of lost in my career… trying to find the next thing. I had always worked in media but joined Cheyenne in a marketing function in 1996. I soon learned that ReiJane’s office was where all the brainstorming happened with key leaders deep into each night. It was like a professional fraternity of sorts: Qualify to sit in ReiJane’s office, and you were in the inner circle of where the storage software market may potentially head next.
I ultimately returned to IT media a few months after joining Cheyene. One of my initial articles covered a bug in Cheyenne’s software.Instead of holding a grudge against me and the article, ReiJane was always polite in our follow-up conversations. And he always asked for my views on IT trends; his interest in conversation seemed sincere.
I’m not overlooking the alleged accounting issues that led Huai to resign from FalconStor. But I also don’t want to overlook that the storage market — and the Long Island business scene — have lost a very influential leader. Sad indeed.
-jp
I was shocked by this news!!! I grew up with Reijane, since we were in middle school together, we used to be so close that we double-dated when we were in high school. The last time I talked to him was about two months ago, he was ready to restart, almost a year since he left FalconStor. He is, in my opinion, one of the most intelligent and self-disciplined people, I have zero doubt about his integrity. There has to be something going on behind the scene, it is just so not him committing suicide, he is the kind of people who live up to their pride.
Please rest in peace, Reijane. I will prey for your family.
ReiJane hired me at Cheyenne in the late 80’s while I was still in college. I started my full time career under Rei. He was a one of a rare breed – a great engineer and leader with vision and market understanding. What a terrible loss.
RIP.