Sam Yagan (born April 10, 1977) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of OkCupid.[1] In 2013, he was named to TIME Magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World' list.[1] He is the Vice-Chairman of the e-dating site Match.com.[2]
Sam Yagan | |
---|---|
Born | April 10, 1977 |
Nationality | American |
Education | degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics and an MBA |
Alma mater | Harvard University Stanford University |
Occupation(s) | Co-founder of OkCupid Co-founder of SparkNotes Vice-Chairman of Match.com Former CEO of Shoprunner |
Years active | 1999–present |
Spouse |
Jessica Droste Yagan
(m. 2003) |
Parent(s) | Al Yagan Dr. Haifa Yagan |
Yagan is the son of Syrian immigrants, Al and Dr. Haifa Yagan,[3][4] and grew up in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and studied at the Illinois Math and Science Academy and eventually Harvard University.
Yagan holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University, where he earned distinction as a Siebel Scholar, an Arjay Miller Scholar, and the Henry Ford Scholar, the award granted to each class’s valedictorian.[5] His brother Danny Yagan is an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.[6] His wife Jessica Droste Yagan is the CEO of Impact Engine, an impact investing fund.[7]
In 1999, during his senior year at Harvard, Yagan and two of his classmates, Chris Coyne and Max Krohn, started the online study guide SparkNotes.[8] Christian Rudder joined shortly after the founding. A year later they sold the company to Barnes & Noble for $30 million.[9]
By age 25, Yagan was the president of eDonkey (founded in 2002), a P2P file-sharing network. As the developer of eDonkey, Yagan testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing a need for balance between innovation and intellectual property.[10]
In 2003, Yagan again teamed up with his Harvard classmates Chris Coyne and Max Krohn and founded OkCupid.
In 2009, Yagan and Troy Henikoff founded Excelerate Labs.[11]
In 2011, Yagan sold his dating website (OkCupid) to IAC for $50 million and in 2012, Yagan became the CEO of Match.com (a subsidiary of IAC).[9]
Yagan is the former CEO of ShopRunner, an e-commerce network that provides two-day shipping across multiple merchants. He led the sale of the company to FedEx in December 2020.[12]
In April 2013, Yagan was listed as one of TIME Magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World'.[1]
In 2014, Yagan was listed as one of Fortune Magazine's "40 Under 40."
In 2011, Yagan was named to Crain's "40 under 40" in Chicago.[13]
Sam Yagan is married to his high school sweetheart, Jessica Droste Yagan.[14][15]