Max Levchin
Encyclopedia
Max Rafael Levchin is a Ukrainian-born American computer scientist
and internet entrepreneur
widely known as one of the co-founders (along with Peter Thiel
and Elon Musk
) and for his role as the former chief technology officer of PayPal
.
Originally from Kiev
, Ukraine
(then part of the Soviet Union
), he moved to the United States with his family, under a political asylum, and settled in Chicago
in 1991. He attended Mather High School and then earned his bachelor in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in 1997 and co-founded two companies that made Internet
-tools, NetMeridian Software and SponsorNet New Media. In 1998, he founded Fieldlink with John Bernard Powers (who left the company shortly thereafter) and Peter Thiel. After changing the company name to Confinity
, they developed a popular payment product known as PayPal. After a merger with X.com, the combined entity was renamed PayPal Inc.
PayPal Inc.
went public in February 2002, and was subsequently acquired by eBay
. Levchin worked there with Peter Thiel
, Roelof Botha
, and David Sacks
. Levchin's 2.3% stake in PayPal was worth approximately $34 million at the time of the acquisition. In 2002, he was named to the MIT
Technology Review
TR100
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35, as well as Innovator of the Year. He is primarily known for his contributions to PayPal
's anti-fraud efforts and is also the co-creator of the Gausebeck-Levchin test, one of the first commercial implementations of a CAPTCHA
.
In 2004, Levchin founded Slide, a personal media-sharing service for social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Slide was sold to Google in August 2010 for $182 Million and, on August 25, Levchin joined as Vice President of Engineering. On 26 August, 2011, Google
announced it was shutting down Slide, and that Levchin was leaving the company.
He also helped start Yelp, an online social network
ing and review service.
Levchin was an executive producer for the movie Thank You for Smoking. Levchin was also featured in "Brilliant Issue" of Portfolio by Condé Nast Publications
.
Levchin is currently collaborating with Garry Kasparov
and Peter Thiel
on The Blueprint, a book calling for a revival of world innovation, due out in February 2012 from W. W. Norton & Company.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
and internet entrepreneur
Internet entrepreneur
An Internet entrepreneur is an entrepreneur that applies innovation to create new businesses on the Internet.Internet entrepreneurs are part of the more general category of digital entrepreneurs...
widely known as one of the co-founders (along with Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel
Peter Andreas Thiel is an American business magnate, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. With Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its CEO...
and Elon Musk
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an American engineer and entrepreneur heritage best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity...
) and for his role as the former chief technology officer of PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
.
Originally from Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
(then part of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
), he moved to the United States with his family, under a political asylum, and settled in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1991. He attended Mather High School and then earned his bachelor in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1997 and co-founded two companies that made Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-tools, NetMeridian Software and SponsorNet New Media. In 1998, he founded Fieldlink with John Bernard Powers (who left the company shortly thereafter) and Peter Thiel. After changing the company name to Confinity
Confinity
Confinity Inc. is best known as the creator of PayPal. It was founded in December 1998 by Max Levchin,Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek, initially as a Palm Pilot payments and cryptographycompany...
, they developed a popular payment product known as PayPal. After a merger with X.com, the combined entity was renamed PayPal Inc.
PayPal Inc.
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
went public in February 2002, and was subsequently acquired by eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. Levchin worked there with Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel
Peter Andreas Thiel is an American business magnate, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. With Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its CEO...
, Roelof Botha
Roelof Botha
Roelof F. Botha is a venture capitalist and company director. By training, he is a qualified actuary.Botha is a partner at Sequoia Capital and sits on the board of Eventbrite, Jawbone, Mahalo, Meebo, Nimbula, Square, Tokbox, Tumblr, Unity and Xoom...
, and David Sacks
David O. Sacks
David Oliver Sacks is the founder and CEO of Web 2.0 companies Geni, Inc. and Yammer, Inc..-Biography:Sacks attended the Memphis University School in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Stanford University in 1994 and received a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School...
. Levchin's 2.3% stake in PayPal was worth approximately $34 million at the time of the acquisition. In 2002, he was named to the MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
TR100
TR35
The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35, as well as Innovator of the Year. He is primarily known for his contributions to PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
's anti-fraud efforts and is also the co-creator of the Gausebeck-Levchin test, one of the first commercial implementations of a CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA
A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by a person. The process usually involves one computer asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade...
.
In 2004, Levchin founded Slide, a personal media-sharing service for social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Slide was sold to Google in August 2010 for $182 Million and, on August 25, Levchin joined as Vice President of Engineering. On 26 August, 2011, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
announced it was shutting down Slide, and that Levchin was leaving the company.
He also helped start Yelp, an online social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
ing and review service.
Levchin was an executive producer for the movie Thank You for Smoking. Levchin was also featured in "Brilliant Issue" of Portfolio by Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
.
Levchin is currently collaborating with Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
and Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel
Peter Andreas Thiel is an American business magnate, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. With Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its CEO...
on The Blueprint, a book calling for a revival of world innovation, due out in February 2012 from W. W. Norton & Company.
External links
- Golub`atna about Levchin
- Translated version of Golub`atna by Google
- http://www.levchin.com/ Personal website, includes photos from PayPal IPO.
- Max Levchin has a professional profile on the web.
- NerdTV Interview (video, audio, and transcript available) - 30 June 2005
- iinnovate interview Two Stanford business school students interview Max
- New York Times: After Succeeding, Young Tycoons Try, Try Again Max Levchin profile
- An alternate history of PayPal according to X.com CEO Elon Musk
- Google acquires Slide
- http://mashable.com/2010/08/26/max-levchin-google/