Bill Clinton - Former president of the United States
William Jefferson Clinton was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. In 1962, he was selected to go to Washington, D.C., to be a part of Boys Nation, a special youth leadership conference as the representative of his home state of Arkansas. After graduation from high school in 1964, Clinton attended Georgetown University, where he became president of the Students’ Union and worked for Senator J. William Fulbright. He earned his bachelor’s degree in international politics from Georgetown University in 1968 and then won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University. After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1973. Following a law school teaching stint, Clinton was elected attorney general of Arkansas in 1976, and then won the governorship in 1978, where he served until 1980. He was elected again in 1982 and served five consecutive terms until 1999, when he became the chairman of the Democratic central committee. Clinton was elected president of the United States in 1992, and was reelected to a second term in 1996. In April, 2005 he was appointed as UN Tsunami Envoy.
Jerry Yang – Co-Founder of Yahoo!
Jerry Yang, a Taiwan native raised in San Jose, California, holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate there. Yang co-created the Yahoo! Internet navigational guide in April of 1994 with David Filo and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April of 1995. A leading force in the media industry, Yang has helped make Yahoo! the world's most highly trafficked website and one of the Internet's most recognized brands. Yang is a member of that company’s board of directors and works closely with the company's president and CEO to develop corporate business strategies and guide the future of the company.
Today, Yahoo! Inc. is the Internet's leading global consumer and business services company, offering a comprehensive network of essential services for 80 million web users around the globe. As the first online navigational guide to the web, Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) is the global leader in traffic, advertising, household and business user reach.
Ma Yun (Jack Ma) - CEO, Alibaba.com
Jack Ma is among the earliest entrepreneurs in pioneering e-commerce applications in China. His innovative concepts and works, especially the establishment of Alibaba.com in 1999, have greatly enriched the landscape of business Internet applications worldwide. Ma is the first mainland China entrepreneur to be featured on the cover of America’s leading financial magazine, Forbes. He was selected as one of the 100 “Future Leaders” of the globe by “World Economy Forum” in 2001.
Prior to building Alibaba into an international company, Ma founded the China Pages in 1995, the first Chinese language commercial information publishing website, after which he joined the information department of the China International Electronic Commerce Center (CIECC) under China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC). During this period, Ma devoted himself to developing the official website of MOFTEC and China’s on-line commercial transaction market.
With Ma’s recent venture of Taobao.com, Alibaba formally entered the C2C field. Taobao.com has risen to become a leader in China's consumer e-commerce market within two years. Alipay.com, the independent third party payment platform, was simultaneously founded, ensuring Alibaba’s leading role in China’s e-commerce field.
Ding Lei (William Ding) - Chief Architect, NetEase
Mr. Ding established NetEase in 1997 and has since been a major force in the development of the Internet in China. His powerful observation abilities, combined with dead-on decision-making skills, have led NetEase from its origins as a private firm with less than 20 employees to become a major Internet technology company listed on the NASDAQ with a staff of more than 1,000.
During NetEase's first two years of operation, Mr. Ding focused on the research and development of Internet application software systems. In November 1997, he introduced China's first bilingual free email service to users, which was a decisive factor in the prevalence and growth of China's Internet industry. This email system was later licensed to a number of Internet companies in China. In March 2000, Mr. Ding left his post at NetEase CEO to become Co-Chief Technical Officer, followed by serving as the company’s chief architect and later as its acting chief operating officer.
Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) – President and CEO, Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Ma Huateng, executive board member, chairman of the board and CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd., takes charge of the strategic planning, positioning and management of the group. Ma is one of principal founders of Tencent and has worked in the Group since 1999. Prior to joining Tencent, Ma was in charge of the research and development of Internet calling systems of Shenzhen Runxun Communications Co, Ltd., a telecommunications service and product provider in China. Ma has more than ten years of working experience in telecommunication and Internet industry. He received a bachelor's degree in science from Shenzhen University in 1993, with a major in computer science.
Wang Yan - CEO, SINA.com
Yan Wang was appointed Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Director of SINA in May 2003. He is currently in charge of the strategic planning of corporate development and the management of SINA. Wang began serving as president of SINA in June, 2001. Prior to that, he was the general manager of China operations for SINA.com. In May 1996, Mr. Wang founded the SRSnet.com division of Beijing Stone Rich Sight Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SINA.com. From 1996, he served as the head of the SRS Internet Group and created one of the earliest e-commerce websites in China. With the joint efforts of Wang and his colleagues, and their rich experience in website planning, operation and marketing, SRSnet.com became the most popular, high-click ratio website in China in 1998. That same year, SRSnet.com merged with SINA.net. Mr. Wang received a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Paris in 1996.
Dr. Zhang Chaoyang (Charles Zhang) ---Chairman of the Board, CEO，SOHU.com
Dr. Zhang was born in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China, in 1964. He graduated from Qinghua University in 1986 with a degree in physics, followed by study at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned his Ph.D. in 1993. After continuing his post-doctorate research at MIT, and serving as that university’s liaison officer with China, he returned to his native country as the Chief Representative of Internet Securities Inc. In 1996, he founded ITC, the first venture-capital-financed Internet company in China. In February of 1998, ITC formally launched “SOHU” products and the company name was changed into SOHU.com Inc. Under Zhang’s leadership, the company underwent four financing moves and successfully listed on NASDAQ Exchange on July 12, 2000. SOHU has built one of the most comprehensive matrices of Chinese language webs, featuring neo-media, e-commerce, telecommunications and value-added mobile services. As the most renowned Chinese-language Internet brand, SOHU.com has made outstanding contributions to the promotion of commercial practices of the Internet in China. Zhang now serves as chairman of board and CEO of SOHU.com.