Digerati Hall of Fame

Sergey Brin and Larry Page
Google

As the founders of Google, Brin and Page are ranked #26 and #27 respectively on “Forbes Richest People” for 2006. Initially called BackRub, Google is now widely recognized as the world’s largest search engine. And, in case you were wondering, “Googol”is a mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google’s play on this term reflects the company’s mission to organize the vast amount of information available on the Web.

Read more about how Sergey and Larry started Google.

Pierre Omidyar
eBay

Pierre launched eBay in 1995 as an experiment to see how equal access to information and opportunities would impact the efficiency of a marketplace. Over a decade later, his experiment has proven to be a success with hundreds of thousands of members making a living entirely on eBay and over 150 million people engaging in transactions. Omidyar also deserves recognition for his philanthropic efforts through the Omidyar Network.

Jerry Yang and David Filo
Yahoo

The two original Yahooligans originally started their website, Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web, as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet. Eventually their list became too unwieldy to manage, forcing Yang and Filo to organize the information into categories and sub-categories. The name Yahoo! is an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,” but Filo and Yang insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of the term (rude, unsophisticated, uncouth).

Read more about the history of Yahoo!

Steve Jobs
Apple Computer

Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976. Jobs also co-founded Pixar Animation Studios in 1986 which was acquired by Walt Disney Company in 2006. While still guiding the helm at Apple, Jobs will also help oversee Disney and Pixar’s combined animation businesses with a seat on a special steering committee. Many expect Jobs to also advise Robert Iger and Roy E. Disney on technology matters.

Jack Ma
Alibaba.com

As CEO of Alibaba.com, Jack Ma is the most powerful Internet executive in China. His company, in turn, owns Taobao.com–China’s homegrown auction site that is quickly leaving eBay in the dust in one of the fastest grown Internet markets. Since last October, Ma has also controls Yahoo’s Chinese portal after giving up a minority stake in his company. Not one to rest on his success, Ma is also developing a Chinese search engine to go head-to-head with Google. What’s next? Since China’s Internet market is in its infancy, Ma’s influence is likely to grow leaps and bounds in the coming years.
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