Early Life
Frederic B. Luddy, born in 1954 in New Castle, Indiana, comes from a family where his father worked as an accountant and his mother was a Catholic school teacher. His early life took an unconventional turn when, at 16, he left home and spent time picking strawberries and working at a carwash. This experience fueled his independent spirit and later shaped his entrepreneurial path.
Rise to Success
Luddy's fascination with technology led him to Indiana University, but he dropped out to pursue computer programming. His career includes working at Amdahl Corporation, co-founding Enterprise Software, and serving as the chief technology officer at Peregrine Systems. In 2004, Luddy faced a significant setback when his $35 million net worth was lost due to accounting fraud at Peregrine Systems. Undeterred, he founded ServiceNow two weeks before his 50th birthday. ServiceNow has grown into a leading cloud computing company. Luddy served as CEO until 2011 and transitioned to product development and advisory roles.
Key Business Strategies
ServiceNow's success is attributed to its SaaS model, which provides IT service management. In addition to ITSM, ServiceNow expanded into HR service delivery, customer service management, and security operations. In 2025, ServiceNow announced plans to acquire identity governance and security vendor Veza, to further its cybersecurity presence. ServiceNow also introduced the Now Platform, a low-code development platform that enables organizations to build custom applications and automate processes quickly and easily. The company's commitment to innovation and strategic acquisitions has made it a force in the tech industry.
Philanthropy
Luddy's philanthropic efforts are recognized through the naming of Luddy Hall at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington. The Luddy Center for Artificial Intelligence was also established due to his generosity.