ED

Online Entrepreneurs

Facebook and Youtube are a couple of websites that we use on a daily basis. Everybody uses Mozilla Firefox and knows about Fasthosts. However have you ever wondered about the people who made these sites, programs and internet service providers? A majority of people who use these services don’t know anything about these people. Well, here is a list of top 10 entrepreneurs who became successful while working online. These people range from programmers to website-designers. The list has been prepared according to the net worth of each person.

1. Mark Zuckerberg:

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American software developer, computer scientist and philanthropist. He is best known for the creation of the social network known as Facebook, which he co founded with the help of a number of college students when he was in Harvard University. He is currently Facebook’s CEO and president.
Zukerberg was born on May 14th, 1984 in White Plains, New York to Karen and Edward. He started using computers when he was in middle school and by the time he joined Harvard, he already had the reputation of a programming prodigy. He did a number of projects like Facemash, program that compared photos of students in their dorm rooms, and on February 4, 2004 he launched Facebook from his Harvard room, on which initially the students shared their personal information like telephone numbers and proximities to friends. The site is now a major social hub for people of all ages.
In 2010, Zukerberg was named Times magazine’s Person of the Year. His net worth is estimated at $700 million.

2. Andrew Gower:

Andrew Gower is a British game developer and has co-founded Jagex Ltd with brother Paul Grower and friend Constant Tedder. He is also famous for writing MMORPG (Massively Multiplier Online Role Playing Games) Runescape.
Jagex Game Studios, which Gower co-founded, is an online game developer and the company is based in Cambridge in the UK. Jagex is known for the creation of two versions of Runescape games and also for the development of the online games site, Funorb. It is also the owner of the MMO Planetarian. Jagex is a huge company with 400 employees which includes “in house” management and customer support. In 2007, Sunday times listed Andrew Grower and his brother Paul as the 654th richest entrepreneur in the UK. Andrew Grower’s current net worth is $650 million.

3. Chad Hurley:

Chad Meredith Hurley is one of the co-founders and former CEO of the popular video sharing tube site, Youtube.
Chad Hurley was born on January 1, 1977 near Birdsboro, Pennsylvania to Don and Joann Hurley. Since childhood he was interested in arts and later, in high school, he developed a liking for computer programming and electronics media. He did his B.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1999. After graduation, he worked for Penpal, a site that helped people with sending money amongst themselves. When eBay bought Penpal, Chad got a bonus that helped him develop Youtube with fellow co-workers Steve Chen and Jawad Karim. On October 16, 2006 they sold Youtube to Google Inc. for $1.65 billion. Chad Hurley’s current net worth is $300 million.

4. Blake Ross and Dave Hyatt:

Blake Aaron Ross and Dave Hyatt are both American software developers who are known for creating the famous web browser, Mozilla Firefox.
Ross was born on June 12, 1985 in Miami, Florida and created his first website at the age of 10. He did high school at Gulliver Preparatory School in 2003 and then enrolled at Stanford University.
Hyatt was born on June 28, 1972 and is currently an employee at Apple Inc. Hyatt did his under graduation from Rice University and did his graduation from University of Illinois.
While interning at Netscape in the year 2000, 15 year old Ross met Hyatt and both felt disenchanted by the browser he was working on. Netscape had recently been purchased by American online, and Ross and Hyatt were not happy with the new owner’s direction. They both envisioned a web browser that was easy to use and have mass appeal. Thus, Firefox was born from this very idea.
Released in November 2004, the browser quickly captured a large chunk of the market’s share and it achieved a staggering 100 million downloads in a year.
With a joint net worth of $120 million they are on fourth spot among top online entrepreneurs.

5. Andrew Michael:

Fasthosts is an internet and hosting service provider that is based in England, was founded by Andrew Michael. It was set up as an A-level project by Michael and a friend, Alex Wilding. After completing his A-levels, he decided not to pursue college education and focus on his work with Fasthosts. In 2002, the company was declared the second fastest growing technology company in England. In 2005, the company reported a staggering turnover of £20 million and profits of £5 million.
In the year 2006, Michael sold his company to United Internet for £61.5 million. He is currently working with United Internet.
His net worth is $110 million and makes it to the fifth spot.

6. Angelo Sotira:

Angelo Sotira is one of the co-founders of devianArt. devianArt is a web site that helps users showcasing their artwork on the internet. Scott Jarkoff, Mathew Stevens, Angelo Sotira and a few others launched the site on August 7, 2000. It’s headquarters are located in Hollywood area of Los Angeles.
As of August 2010, the site has achieved a milestone 14.5 million members and about 100 million submissions. The site had been visited by 36 million visitors by 2006.
Angelo Sotira is currently the CEO of deviantArt and has a net worth of $75 million.

7. John Vechey:

John Vechey is one of the co-founders of PopCap Games. PopGames is an American video game developer and publisher hat has produced a few hits since its formation. PopCap currently employs about 200 people and almost all of its games can be played in the form of a free limioted version with the full version costing a fee.
The games are developed for popular platforms like Xbox 360, Play Station 3, iPhone, Zeebo and many others.
PopCap’s most popular game, Bejeweled has sold more than 50 million copies. The company has won almost 25 industry awards with Bejeweled winning Computer World Hall of Fame status.
John Vechey has a net worth of $60 million.

8. Alexander Levin:

Alexander Levin is one of the co-founders of ImageShack. ImageShack is an image hosting site that has been quite successful. Image shack actually generates a bulk of its revenues with the help of advertising related to its free hosting of images.
The site debuted in 2003 and since then it has grown quite rapidly.
According to Nielson/Netratings, ImageShack is number four when it comes to growth of a web brand.

9. Jake Nickell:

Jake Nickell is one of the founders and current CEO of skinnyCorp and Threadless. Threadless is an online apparel store owned and run by skinnyCorp based in Chicago, Illinois.
A few designers upload their designs on the site and voting takes place. A few designs are then selected and sent for printing and sold on an online store. In 2007, the company opened its first retail store.
Jake Nickell has behind the company through thick and thin and has a net worth of $50 million.

10. Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith:

Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith are the founders of Tagged. Both had been friends since 7th grade and went on to major in physics and mathematics at Harvard University.
Tagged is a social networking site founded in 2004 and it is based in San Francisco. It allows users to play games, place tags and suggest new members. As of December 2010, Quancast reported a total tally of 21.1 visits globally. The site has been quite profitable and has competition in the form of Friendster, Bebo and Orkut. Johann Schleier-Smith and Greg Tseng have a joint net worth of $45 million.

Tags: Entrepreneurs, Facebook, Online, Orkut, web designer, YouTube