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Eric Yuan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Yuan Zheng.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yuan (袁).

Eric Yuan
袁征
Yuan in 2021
Born (1970-02-20) 20 February 1970 (age 54)[1]
Tai'an, Shandong, China
CitizenshipUnited States[2]
EducationShandong University of Science and Technology (BS)
China University of Mining and Technology (MS)
OccupationBusinessman
TitleFounder and CEO, Zoom Communications
SpouseSherry (m. 1991 or 1992)[3][4]
Children3[4]
Eric Yuan
Chinese袁征
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYuán Zhēng

Eric S Yuan[5] (Chinese: 袁征; pinyin: Yuán Zhēng; born 20 February 1970) is a Chinese-American billionaire businessman, engineer, and the chief executive officer and founder of Zoom Communications, of which he owns 22%.[6][7]

Early life and education

[edit]

Yuan is the son of geological engineers.[8] He was born and raised in Tai'an, Shandong Province, China.[9][10] In the fourth grade, Yuan collected construction scraps to recycle copper for cash.[9]

As a first-year university student in 1987, Yuan was inspired to develop videotelephony software while he took 10-hour train rides to visit his girlfriend and was looking for an easier way to "visit" her.[11][10] Yuan earned a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics with a minor in computer application from Shandong University of Science and Technology,[12] and a master's degree in geology engineering from China University of Mining and Technology in Beijing.[13][14] Yuan completed a Stanford University executive program in 2006.[9][15][16]

Career

[edit]

After earning his master's degree, Yuan lived in Beijing,[17] and attended a training program in Japan for four months.[14] Inspired by Bill Gates, who spoke in Japan in 1995, Yuan moved to Silicon Valley in 1997 to join the tech boom.[11][18] At the time, Yuan spoke very little English, and applied nine times before being granted a visa to the United States.[10][19]

Upon arriving in the U.S., Yuan joined WebEx, a web conferencing startup, where he was one of the first 20 hires.[9][8] The company was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007, at which time Yuan became vice president of engineering.[10] In 2011, he pitched a new smartphone-friendly video conferencing system to Cisco management.[20] When the idea was rejected, Yuan left Cisco to establish his own company, Zoom Communications.[10]

In 2019, Zoom became a public company via an initial public offering,[21] at which time Yuan became a billionaire.[9][2] His wealth has increased during COVID-19 pandemic, as Zoom benefited from the shift to online work and teaching.[22] On 1 September 2020, Yuan's net worth was estimated to be US$16.4 billion, a figure 360% higher than his net worth at the beginning of the year.[23] In March 2021, Yuan transferred $6 billion worth of Zoom shares to a grantor retained annuity trust, for which Yuan is a trustee.[24]

Personal life

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Yuan married his girlfriend, Sherry, at the age of 22, while he was a master's student at China University of Mining and Technology in Beijing.[9] They have three children. One of his children is Roy Yuan, who plays on the Stanford basketball team and has a YouTube channel with over 40,000 subscribers.[25] Yuan and his family live in Santa Clara, California.[2] In 2007, Yuan became a naturalized United States citizen.[26]

Yuan chose the middle name "S" after Subrah Iyar, cofounder of WebEx.[5]

Recognition

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Yuan was named the 2020 Time Businessperson of the Year,[27] and was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[28] In 2020, Yuan was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Awards[29][30]

References

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  1. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Eric Yuan". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Forbes profile: Eric Yuan & family". Forbes. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  3. ^ Konrad, Alex. "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! The Exclusive Inside Story Of The New Billionaire Behind Tech's Hottest IPO". Forbes. Retrieved 23 March 2022. At Shandong University of Science & Technology, Yuan studied applied mathematics and computer science and then, at age 22, got married while pursuing his Master's degree.
  4. ^ a b "Eric Yuan, Founder & CEO of Zoom". The CEO Magazine. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b FE Bureau (8 August 2020). "India is Zoom's second-largest market after US: CEO Eric Yuan". www.financialexpress.com.
  6. ^ Pendleton, Devon (21 March 2020). "The rise of social distancing during coronavirus pandemic pushes Zoom founder's net worth up by $2 billion in 2020". www.fortune.com.
  7. ^ Francis, Theo (8 March 2021). "Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Transfers $6 Billion Worth of His Shares". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b Sarlin, Jon (22 May 2020). "Everyone you know uses Zoom. That wasn't the plan". CNN. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Konrad, Alex (31 May 2019). "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! The Exclusive Inside Story Of The New Billionaire Behind Tech's Hottest IPO". Forbes.
  10. ^ a b c d e Weiner, Yitzi (2 October 2017). "The Inspiring Backstory of Eric S. Yuan, Founder and CEO of Zoom". Medium.
  11. ^ a b Huddleston Jr., Tom (18 April 2019). "A Bill Gates speech inspired Zoom founder to start an internet business—now he's a billionaire". CNBC.
  12. ^ Rogers, Bruce (24 April 2017). "Eric Yuan Builds Cloud Conferencing Company Zoom To Create Satisfied Customers". Forbes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  13. ^ Waters, Richard (5 June 2020). "Eric Yuan, a tech boss riding a geopolitical storm". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  14. ^ a b "2020 Great Immigrants Recipient: Eric Yuan". Carnegie.org. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  15. ^ Stone, Brett (29 March 2020). "A Biography of Eric Yuan, Founder and CEO of Zoom". Medium. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Lunar New Year Social Mixer with Eric Yuan, CEO/Zoom". Stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  17. ^ High, Peter (6 March 2017). "Zoom CEO's Promise To His Wife Helped Inspire A $1B Company". Forbes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Zoom's Blank Check: What To Do When You Have An Expensive Stock And No Moats". Seeking Alpha. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  19. ^ Levy, Ari (19 April 2020). "Zoom's CEO emigrated from China 22 years ago and spoke little English — now he's worth almost $3 billion". CNBC.
  20. ^ Rogers, Taylor Nicole (1 April 2020). "Meet Eric Yuan, the founder and CEO of Zoom, who has made nearly $4 billion in 3 months as usage of his video conferencing software skyrockets amid the coronavirus pandemic". Business Insider.
  21. ^ Griffith, Erin (18 April 2019). "I.P.O. Day for Pinterest and Zoom Ends With Shares Sharply Higher". New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  22. ^ Grant, Nico (31 August 2020). "Zoom CEO's Wealth Jumps $5.2 Billion After Sales Crush Estimates". www.bloomberg.com.
  23. ^ Rogers, Taylor Nicole (2 September 2020). "Zoom billionaire Eric Yuan made $5 billion in one day as the videoconference company reports record earnings". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  24. ^ “Zoom Founder Eric Yuan Transfers $6 Billion Worth of Shares”
  25. ^ Yuan, Roy (26 November 2019). "Home [Youtube Channel]". Youtube. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  26. ^ Yuan, Eric (4 May 2020). "Navigating a New Chapter for Zoom". Zoom Blog. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  27. ^ Chow, Andrew. "Businessperson of the Year: Eric Yuan". Time. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  28. ^ "Eric Yuan: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020". Time. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  29. ^ "Eric Yuan". Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Dr Kamlesh Lulla gets Carnegie Foundation's "Great Immigrant: Great American" Award". india-herald.com. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
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