Michael Edward Lofthouse is the founder of Solid8, a cloud computing services company based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. He has broad experience in the cloud technology markets in the U.S. and in the United Kingdom.

Lofthouse attended Sedbergh School in Sedbergh, Cumbria, North West England, England, U.K. His parents Chris Lofthouse and Linda Lofthouse are based in Morpeth, Northumberland, North East England, England.

On July 4, 2020, Michael went on a racist rant in the Lucia restaurant of Bernardus Lodge and Spa in Carmel Valley, California against his fellow customers, who are Asian. The incident was captured on video by Jordan Chan who was there to celebrate her aunt Mari Orosa‘s birthday along with the celebrant’s husband Raymond Orosa and two others.

The video went viral and was shared by celebrities including Kelly Clarkson and Patton Oswalt. Subsequently, he disabled his LinkedIn and Facebook accounts while his Twitter account was suspended. 

Chris and Linda have another son named Richard Lofthouse, who is married to Susanna Tsang Lofthouse, who is of Asian descent. Richard had contacted the Asian family in the video and apologized.

Linda told Daily Mail that Michael had been suffering from addiction issues. She said, “We are completely devastated and appalled by his behavior. All I want to say is that we apologize unreservedly to the family and to anyone else it has offended.”

Michael is 5’8″ tall. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. From 2001 to 2005, he attended Newcastle Business School, which is associated with Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in business. _(a)(b)
2. From July 2003 and September 2004, he worked for the software service sales of IBM in the U.K. and Ireland. _(a)(c)
3. From October 2005 to October 2006, he was in the graduate sales program of Hewlett-Packard in the U.K. and Ireland. _(a)(c)
4. From October 2006 to July 2008, he worked for the software and solution sales and financial services industry of Hewlett-Packard in the U.K. and Ireland. _(a)(c)
5. From July 2008 to September 2010, he was the SaaS sales account manager of Hewlett-Packard in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. _(a)(c)
6. In 2010, he moved from England to the U.S. and originally lived in New York City, New York, USA. From September 2010 to January 2012, he was a financial service account executive at RightNow Technologies in North America, which was acquired by Oracle in January 2012. He held the position until July 2012. _(a)(c)
7. From September 2012 to October 2013, he was Kontagent‘s sales account director in North America. _(a)
8. From November 2013 to May 2014, he was AppDynamics‘ regional sames manager in North America. _(a)(c)
9. From May 2014 to December 2014, he was the Inkling sales account director. _(a)(c)
10. In July 2016, he was found guilty of vandalism and he spent two days in prison. He was given three years probation and 80 hours of community service. A restraining order was placed upon him as a result of the case. _(c)
11. In 2017, he founded Solid8, which claims to carefully guide clients through the analysis and selection cycle with detailed business value assessments, accurate vendor recommendations and precise procurement of the right fit platforms that deliver major efficiency and financial improvements. _(c)
12. He was 37 years old and serving as the chief executive office of Solid8 when the video of his racist rant on July 4, 2020 went viral. After the controversy, he stepped down from Solid8. _(b)(d)
13. On February 16, 2021, he filed a countersuit against the Lucia restaurant and the Asian people who were the victims of his racist rant inside the restaurant on July 4, 2020. He represented himself. A hearing for the lawsuit, which alleged nine causes of action including defamation, invasion of privacy and other related statutory violations, was scheduled for May 14, 2021. _(e)(f)

_SOURCES:

• _{a. Contact Out}
• _{b. Daily Mail}
• _{c. Heavy}
• _{d. CNN}
• _{e. PRLog}
• _{f. KION}