Summary
Anthony J. Wood (born 1965) is an English-born American billionaire businessman who is the founder, chairman and CEO of Roku, Inc.[1][2][3] As on April 2021, he owned 15% stake in Roku, and had a net worth of US$7.2 billion.[4]
Anthony Wood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1965 or 1966 (age 58–59) England |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Texas A&M University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder, chairman and CEO of Roku, Inc. |
| Spouse | Susan Wood |
| Children | 3 |
Personal life edit
Wood was born and grew up in Manchester, England, followed by the State of Georgia in the U.S.[1] At the age of 13, he moved to the Netherlands with family, and then lived in Texas in the U.S.[5]
In 1984, when Wood was a teenager, he published "Lunar Lander" in the Ahoy! magazine.[6] Wood earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.[7] He met his wife Susan at this university, where Susan studied environmental design.[5] They have three children,[8] and live in Palo Alto, California.[9]
Career edit
While in college, Wood founded his first company, "AW Software", to sell computer programs. He also founded "SunRize Industries" while studying engineering, developing software and hardware for the Amiga.[5][10][11] After graduating, he founded SunRize version 2. Later, in 1995, Wood launched another company, iBand, which was bought by Macromedia for $36 million. Wood became the vice president of Internet authoring at Macromedia.[12]
Wood left Macromedia in September 1997 to launch ReplayTV, a digital video recorder (DVR) maker.[13] Wood began working on the DVR development reportedly after being "frustrated" at missing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.[12] Features introduced by ReplayTV included ad-skipping, rewinding and pausing live television.[14][15] Wood sold ReplayTV in 2002 to SONICblue Incorporated for US$42 million.[15]
In 2002, Wood founded Roku, Inc., his sixth startup, to market home digital devices. "Roku" means “six” in Japanese.[13] In 2007 Netflix, Inc. employed Wood as the vice president of Netflix's "Internet TV", directly under Reed Hastings.[15] Wood continued to be the CEO of Roku in this period.[2] At Netflix, he built a team which developed a Netflix-streaming player as well as applications allowing PC users to stream Netflix onto their computers. Netflix later spun Wood’s engineering team back out to Roku.[13]
Philanthropy edit
In 2021, Wood and his wife, Susan, donated $48.2 million to create the "WoodNext Foundation", a Texas based philanthropy.[16] Its priorities include mental health, homelessness, scientific and biomedical research, disaster recovery, and economic opportunity with a focus on addressing root causes.[17] Wood made $71 million in charitable commitments in 2022, and appeared on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of America’s 50 biggest donors.[18] In 2023, the WoodNext Foundation granted $14.3 million to the University of Pittsburgh for the study of heart disease and dementia,[19][20] and $1.25 million to establish the BrightEdge Entrepreneurship Fellows Program through the American Cancer Society.[17]
References edit
- ^ a b "Anthony Wood". InfluenceWatch. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ a b Sherman, Alex (2021-06-18). "How Roku used the Netflix playbook to beat bigger players and rule streaming video". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ Szalai, Georg (2023-09-06). "Roku to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff, Take Charge of $55M-$65M for Removing Streaming Content". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ Tucker, Hank (2021-04-29). "Zuckerberg, Dorsey And 18 Other Billionaires Lead Massive Stock Sales". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ a b c "Trailblazers - True Vision - Texas A&M Foundation Spirit Magazine". Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ Wood, Anthony (April 1984). "Lunar Lander". Ahoy!. Ion International. pp. 35, 76. ISSN 8750-4383.
- ^ "Executive Profile: Anthony J. Wood". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ "How Roku is kicking the cable industry's butt & where it's going next [exclusive] - VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ Evangelista, Benny (2012-04-16). "Roku pins TV's future on Internet streaming". sfgate.com. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ "Perfect Sound". Amiga Hardware Database.
- ^ "Samplers /SunRize Industries: Perfect Sound". Big Book of Amiga Hardware.
- ^ a b "This Is the Man Responsible for Your Binge-Watching Addiction". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ a b c Hiltzik, Michael (October 13, 2010). "Roku box developer has a sixth sense about video". LA Times.
- ^ Hiltzik, Michael (October 13, 2010). "Roku box developer has a sixth sense about video". LA Times.
- ^ a b c Au-Yeung, Angel. "How Billionaire Anthony Wood Quit His Netflix Job, Founded Roku—And Then Quadrupled His Fortune In The Past Year". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ Rojc, Philip (2023-03-15). "Roku Founder Anthony Wood Is a Billionaire Donor to Watch. Here's an Overview". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
- ^ a b "American Cancer Society's BrightEdge Receives $1.25 Million Grant from WoodNext Foundation to Launch Entrepreneurship Fellows Program". American Cancer Society MediaRoom. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
- ^ Mento, Maria Di; Lindsay, Drew (2023-02-14). "Bill Gates again tops list of U.S. philanthropists". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
- ^ "Pitt lands $14.3 million for research linking dementia and cardiovascular disease". University of Pittsburgh. 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ^ Valletta, Maya (2023-02-17). "Pitt Expedites Research in Heart Disease, Dementia with $14.3 Million Award". Pittsburgh Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-18.