David Filo
David Robert Filo (born April 20, 1966) is an American billionaire businessman and the co-founder of Yahoo! with Jerry Yang. His Filo Server Program, written in the C programming language, was the server-side software used to dynamically serve variable web pages, called Filo Server Pages, on visits to early versions of the Yahoo! website.
David Filo | |
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David Filo, May 2007 | |
Born | David Robert Filo[1] April 20, 1966 Wisconsin, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Tulane University Stanford University |
Occupation | Co-founder and Chief Yahoo, Yahoo! Inc. |
Net worth | US$4.3 billion (September 2019)[2] |
Spouse(s) | Angela Buenning |
Children | 1 |
Early life
Filo was born in Wisconsin. At age six, he moved to Moss Bluff, a suburb of Lake Charles, Louisiana. He graduated from Sam Houston High School and then earned a B.S. degree in computer engineering at Tulane University (through the Dean's Honor Scholarship) and an M.S. degree in 1990 at Stanford University.[2]
Career
In February 1994, he co-created with Jerry Yang an Internet website called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web", consisting of a directory of other websites. It was renamed "Yahoo!" (an exclamation). Yahoo! became very popular, and Filo and Yang realized the business potential and co-founded Yahoo! Inc.[3][4]
Yahoo! started off as a web portal with a web directory providing an extensive range of products and services for various online activities. Yahoo was one of the pioneers of the early Internet era in the 1990s. It is still one of the leading internet brands and, due to partnerships with telecommunications firms, is one of the most visited websites on the internet.[5][6]
Personal life
Filo is married to photographer and teacher Angela Buenning.[7] They have one child, and live in Palo Alto, California.[2]
In 2005 he gave $30 million to his alma mater, Tulane University, for use in its School of Engineering.[2]
As of September 2019, Forbes estimated Filo to be worth $4.3 billion, ranking him the 379th-richest person in the world.[2]
References
- Centennial Year Commencement Exercises, Stanford University, June 16, 1991, p. 69
- "Forbes profile: David Filo". Forbes. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- Yahoo! Inc. – Company History. yhoo.client.shareholder.com
- McCracken, Harry (2019-10-17). "Deleting Yahoo Groups will leave a permanent stain on Yahoo's legacy". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
- Alex Gray (April 10, 2017). "These are the world's most popular websites". World Economic Forum. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- "Most Popular Sites 2012: Alexa Ranks The 500 Most-Visited Websites," Huffington Post, August 9, 2012
- Another billionaire drops Archived December 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine