DIRECTORY

Between 1960 and 1995, advances in telecommunications and computing gathered pace, creating new modes of entertainment and consumption and new opportunities for entrepreneurs. By the 1990s, mobile telephone technology and the internet had become vital parts of the economy.

US software engineer Eric Schmidt was born in Virginia and gained a PhD in computer science from the University of California in 1982. He joined the IT company Sun Microsystems, becoming chief technology officer. In 1997, he was named CEO of the computer software company Novell. Schmidt was recruited by Google in 2001 as CEO and oversaw its fast development into one of the dominant tech companies in the world. In 2011, Schmidt became executive chairman and remained in the role until 2018. He left the board of directors of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) in 2019 but remains a technical advisor.

Born in New Delhi, Vinod Khosla moved to the US, where he completed a master’s degree and an MBA. In 1982, he cofounded the IT company Sun Microsystems, then in 1986 he joined the venture capital firm KPCB as a partner, working in computing and telecommunications investments. In 2004, he started his own firm in Silicon Valley, Khosla Ventures, specializing in experimental and innovative high-tech investments, particularly start-ups. Khosla strongly promotes more environmentally friendly technologies and is a prominent supporter of microfinance in Africa and India.

The son of Indian entrepreneur Vittal Mallya, Vijay Mallya succeeded his father in 1983 as chairman of the United Breweries Group, a conglomerate that manufactured alcoholic drinks before diversifying into other sectors. Mallya further expanded the group’s holdings into air travel, chemicals, and film. Twice elected to India’s Parliament, he owns Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team and was co-owner of a Formula One racing team. In 2016, he moved to London but is wanted for extradition by the Indian government on charges of financial crime.

After gaining an MBA from Harvard in 1979, New Yorker Meg Whitman worked for many companies, including Procter & Gamble, Walt Disney, and Hasbro. In 1998, she became CEO and president of online auction company eBay, overhauling its website and helping it successfully go public that year. Under Whitman’s leadership, eBay became a major corporation. She left eBay in 2008 and, after an unsuccessful bid to be governor of California, was made president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, overseeing its 2015 split into two firms. In 2018, she moved to be CEO of Quibi, a mobile video platform.

Brazilian-born Eike Batista attended college in Germany. By 1980, he had returned to Brazil to trade gold and diamonds and was later involved in gold mining in the Amazon. In 1985, Batista became CEO of the Canadian mining company TVX Gold. He also founded EBX Group, a conglomerate with interests in mining, oil and natural gas extraction, power generation, property, shipbuilding, and logistics. By 2012, he was the richest man in South America, but the following year EBX’s profits collapsed. Later found guilty of bribery, he was jailed in 2018.

Born in Japan and of Korean descent, Masayoshi Son was educated in the US. In 1981, he founded SoftBank in Japan, which first sold computer parts then branched out into telecommunications and magazine publishing. The firm went public in 1994. Two years later, Son became involved in internet services, entering into a joint venture to create Yahoo! Japan, of which he was CEO and president. In 1999, SoftBank was made a holding company, investing billions in many other firms globally, notably Alibaba, the Chinese internet and technology company. Son remains SoftBank’s chairman and CEO.

Born in the Punjab region of India, Sunil Mittal started Bharti Enterprises with his two brothers in 1976. It initially made bicycle parts then diversified into other sectors and in 1984 began making telephones and fax machines. In 1992, Mittal successfully pitched Bharti as a mobile telephone services provider and three years later formed Bharti Airtel, which expanded out of India and now operates in 18 countries in Asia and Africa. Under Mittal’s chairmanship Bharti has expanded into a range of industries, including food, financial services, and property.

Zimbabwean-born Strive Masiyiwa attended college in Wales, gaining a degree in electrical engineering in 1983. He returned to Zimbabwe and in 1993 set up Econet as a cell phone network, but the government refused him a license to operate. After a five-year legal battle, Econet won the right to begin business and became highly successful. To avoid state persecution, Masiyiwa left Zimbabwe in 2000. The Econet group expanded across Africa, Europe, and Asia, diversifying into internet provision, banking, and power.

After abandoning his PhD in physics, Yuri Milner left Moscow to do an MBA in the US. He never finished the MBA but worked at the World Bank before returning to Russia in 1995. He started his own venture capital firm, NetBridge, which specialized in the internet. It merged with the internet company Port.ru in 2001, taking the name Mail.ru. With Milner as CEO, Mail.ru became the dominant force in Russian-language internet, until 2003. He set up a holding company, Digital Sky Technologies, that purchased Mail.ru in 2006 and owns the tech investment firm DST Global.

Born in Guryev (Atyrau) in the USSR (now part of Kazakhstan), Arkady Volozh founded several computing, telecommunications, and IT businesses, including CompTek International. In 1993, he codeveloped a search engine and four years later founded Yandex, a technology company, becoming CEO in 2000. It became Russia’s largest technology company and search engine, expanding into other online services, including advertising, data storage, and retail. Volozh oversaw its successful bid to go public in 2011 and, as CEO, has also helped it develop free online courses in data science.

A Russian computing pioneer, Ilya Segalovich cofounded the software company Arkadia in 1990 with school friend Arkady Volozh. In 1993, they developed a product, Yandex, which could search the entire internet. Yandex’s website went online in 1997, with Segalovich as chief technological officer. One of the key Russian-language search engines, it uses advertisements to generate profit. Segalovich was involved in many charitable endeavors, including his own organization for orphans.

British artist Damien Hirst graduated from Goldsmiths College, London, in 1989. During the 1990s, he was part of the “Young British Artists” movement, gaining fame for his provocative works, some displaying animals preserved in formaldehyde (most famously, an entire tiger shark). A key early patron and promoter of Hirst was the advertising executive and collector Charles Saatchi. In 1995, Hirst won the Turner Prize, the most prestigious award in British contemporary art. With a flair for publicity, Hirst made his work highly profitable and in 2008 sold a collection for around $200 million. He is now the UK’s wealthiest living artist.

American Michael Dell started his first computer business in 1984 while at college. He changed its name to the Dell Computer Corporation (later Dell, Inc.), and took it public in 1988. During the 1990s, Dell, Inc., became the leading manufacturer of PCs in the world. Dell stepped down as CEO in 2004, keeping his role as chairman of the board but returned as CEO in 2007. He oversaw, in 2016, its $67 billion acquisition of computer storage company EMC. Dell became CEO of the parent company that was established, Dell Technologies.