On September 11 , 2001 , co-founder Daniel M. Lewin died from stabbing while in flight in the September 11th attacks at the age of 31 . Lewin was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 , the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center . In 2005 , Paul Sagan was named chief executive officer of Akamai . Sagan worked to differentiate Akamai from its competitors by expanding the company 's breadth of services . Under his leadership the company grew to $ 1.37 billion in revenues . Sagan served as chief executive officer until co-founder and current CEO , Tom Leighton , was elected to the position in 2013
American Airlines Flight 11
American Airlines Flight 11
Akamai Technologies