At Quantum even the backups have backups. From the era of the floppy disk to storage in the cloud, Quantum Corp. has been helping organizations large and small protect their data. The San Jose-based company employs approximately 2,000 people worldwide and reported revenues of $652 million in fiscal 2012.

THE QUICK BIO

Shawn Hall is part of that generation of computer engineers who went into law before the first dot-com boom. The future senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Quantum joined the company in 1999 after stints as an associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Palo Alto. The Joplin, Mo., native majored in computer and electrical engineering at the University of Missouri, but a roommate worked to change his mind. “I grew up thinking I’d be an engineer,” said Hall. “PCs were just hitting in my teenage years. But as I got into college, I had a roommate who was headed to law school because he wanted to join the FBI. He told me ‘You’re very analytical. You’d be right for this,’ and that’s what started to change my mind. A law degree seemed a better investment.”