When Robert Reeg started his career in IT 35 years ago, the industry, he says, was avant-garde. It was also highly lucrative for a mathematics graduate. Mr Reeg was offered $100 a month more to train as a software programmer at an oil company than he was to take on a position as an army officer, a career he was also considering. “So for $100 a month more, I got into IT,” he says, laughing.
Mr Reeg may have initially entered the IT industry for economic reasons but with a degree in mathematics it was also a good fit. He entered the payments market after a few stints at non-financial companies, including US network operator Sprint where he was senior director. After about six-and-a-half years at Sprint, a former boss who was working for MasterCard approached him.
