A Life Built on Curiosity, Courage, and Heart
Vince’s story begins on the East Coast, where he arrived as the second of six kids in a bustling Rhode Island family. Before long, the Riccis traded snow for sunshine, heading west to Orange County just as it was beginning to boom. They opened restaurants—including the beloved Ricci’s Pizza, a local spot perched near the gates of Disneyland—where the younger kids learned the art of dough-slinging while Vince, ever the older brother in spirit, found more room to chart his own path.
From the start, Vince was unmistakably Vince: bright, outgoing, quick with a smile, and even quicker to connect with anyone lucky enough to cross his path. At Savanna High School, he became student body president—naturally—and earned a scholarship that would open doors for the rest of his life. He and his high-school sweetheart, Jean, had a plan: Stanford or Cal. Stanford said yes, and with a generous scholarship. They packed up their dreams and headed for “The Farm.”
In true Vince fashion, he didn’t wait for life to happen—he built it as he went. He married young, welcomed a baby daughter before graduation, and stepped into adulthood with both feet grounded firmly in what mattered most: family, purpose, and possibility. Even with a ten-year spread between him and the youngest Ricci sibling, the bond stayed strong, eventually drawing both brothers north to the Bay Area. Life tends to align that way around Vince—people gravitate toward him.
Because here’s the thing about Vince: he walks into a room and sparks it to life. He has never met a stranger. Give him a good meal and a table full of stories to share, and he is exactly where he belongs. Generous by instinct, loyal to the core, and the guy you want in your corner—always.
The Builder at Work
Although he began his career at the powerhouse law firm Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., it quickly became clear that Vince wasn’t meant for a life spent reviewing contracts in a quiet office. He needed to build, create, stretch, solve—and so he followed that instinct into the rising world of technology finance.
In 1977, he joined Comdisco, Inc. and spent more than a decade helping the company grow into a global leader, financing over $3 billion in technology that was shaping the future. But Vince has always been more than a contributor—he’s a catalyst. In 1988, he took the leap and founded Comdisco Systems, Inc., transforming it from a scrappy idea into an international leader whose software became indispensable to global communications and aerospace companies. After the company was acquired in 1993, Vince did what he has always done best: he lifted others by championing early-stage founders.
His résumé speaks for itself: Stanford undergraduate, Editor of the California Law Review at Berkeley Law School, decades of leadership in cutting-edge industries. But perhaps the most authentic expression of Vince’s mind is this: he spent over 40 years on the board of San Francisco’s Exploratorium. Four decades of curiosity, wonder, and asking “How does this work?”—and helping generations of others ask the same.
The Heart of the Story
For all the achievements and accolades, the version of Vince most beloved isn’t the strategist or the entrepreneur—it’s the man his family knows at home.
The husband who has walked hand-in-hand with Jean through every chapter. The father who showed up—steady, present, and proud—for every milestone and every quiet moment in between. The friend, mentor, and confidant whose advice landed with honesty and heart, and whose belief in people often blossomed into their own self-belief.
As Vince celebrates his 80th birthday, his legacy stretches far beyond the companies he built or the strategic partnerships. It lives in the people he believed in, the friendships he tended, the curiosity he never lost, and the family he loves with such unwavering devotion.
That’s our Vince.❤️
