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Founders in Technology & Building

81 people, across 7 fields.

Steve Jobs 1955–2011Technology & InventionCo-founder of Apple who revolutionized personal computing, music, and mobile communications.Thomas Edison 1847–1931Technology & InventionInventor and scientist whose research laboratory model and electrical innovations transformed modern life.Alexander Graham Bell 1847–1922Technology & InventionInventor of the telephone and founder of AT&T, transforming global communication.Elon Musk b. 1971Technology & InventionEngineer and entrepreneur whose companies have advanced electric vehicles, reusable rockets, and neural interfaces.Bill Gates b. 1955Technology & InventionCo-founder of Microsoft who, through the Gates Foundation, has donated billions to global health and education.Mark Zuckerberg b. 1984Technology & InventionCo-founder of Facebook who built the world's largest social media platform and reshaped global communication.Steve Wozniak b. 1950Technology & InventionCo-founder of Apple who designed the Apple I and Apple II computers, sparking the personal computer revolution.Larry Page b. 1973Technology & InventionCo-founder of Google whose search algorithm became the foundation of the modern internet economy.George Westinghouse 1846–1914Engineering & ArchitectureEngineer and industrialist who championed alternating current and founded the Westinghouse Electric Company.Sergey Brin b. 1973Technology & InventionCo-founder of Google who helped develop the PageRank algorithm and expanded into AI and autonomous vehicles.Gordon Moore 1929–2023Technology & InventionCo-founder of Intel whose observation became Moore's Law, driving decades of semiconductor progress.Paul Allen 1953–2018Technology & InventionCo-founder of Microsoft who later invested in space, sports, and scientific research through the Allen Institute.Robert Noyce 1927–1990Technology & InventionCo-inventor of the integrated circuit and co-founder of Intel, earning him the title Mayor of Silicon Valley.Sam Altman b. 1985Technology & InventionTechnology executive and investor whose leadership in generative artificial intelligence has had major but still-unsettled historical consequences.William Shockley 1910–1989Technology & InventionCo-inventor of the transistor at Bell Labs, earning the Nobel Prize and launching the semiconductor age.Cyrus McCormick 1809–1884Technology & InventionInventor of the mechanical reaper that transformed agriculture and fed a growing nation.Jensen Huang b. 1963Technology & InventionCo-founder and CEO of NVIDIA whose GPUs became the engine of the AI revolution.Edwin Land 1909–1991Technology & InventionScientist and co-founder of Polaroid who invented instant photography.Peter Thiel b. 1967Technology & InventionPayPal co-founder and first outside investor in Facebook whose contrarian views shaped Silicon Valley culture.Marc Andreessen b. 1971Technology & InventionCo-author of the first web browser and co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a leading venture capital firm.Reed Hastings b. 1960Technology & InventionCo-founder of Netflix who disrupted the entertainment industry by pioneering streaming video.Willis Carrier 1876–1950Technology & InventionEngineer who invented modern air conditioning, transforming industry, architecture, and daily life.Aaron Swartz 1986–2013Technology & InventionInternet activist and Reddit co-founder whose work on open access and web standards left a lasting legacy.Jack Dorsey b. 1976Technology & InventionCo-founder of Twitter and Square who shaped social media and mobile payments.Gustavus Franklin Swift 1839–1903Engineering & ArchitectureMeatpacking pioneer who developed the refrigerated rail car, transforming the food industry.Travis Kalanick b. 1976Technology & InventionCo-founder of Uber who popularized the gig economy and transformed urban transportation worldwide.Brian Chesky b. 1981Technology & InventionCo-founder of Airbnb who created the global home-sharing marketplace that disrupted the hotel industry.Robert Metcalfe b. 1946Technology & InventionCo-invented Ethernet at Xerox PARC and founded 3Com to commercialize local area networking.Herman Hollerith 1860–1929Technology & InventionInvented punched-card tabulating machines used in the 1890 census and founded a corporate predecessor of IBM.Bill Joy b. 1954Technology & InventionPrincipal author of Berkeley Unix and co-founder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems.Reid Hoffman b. 1967Technology & InventionCo-founder of LinkedIn and influential venture capitalist who helped build Silicon Valley's startup ecosystem.Evan Spiegel b. 1990Technology & InventionCo-founder of Snapchat who pioneered ephemeral messaging and augmented reality social media.Alexis Ohanian b. 1983Technology & InventionCo-founder of Reddit and venture capitalist who has championed open internet and paternity leave.Federico Faggin b. 1941Technology & InventionLed design of the Intel 4004 microprocessor and later co-founded Zilog.Drew Houston b. 1983Technology & InventionCo-founder of Dropbox who made cloud file storage simple and ubiquitous for millions.