Josh Silverman

Josh Silverman
Silverman in 2014
Born (1969-01-14) January 14, 1969 (age 55)
Education
OccupationEntrepreneur
TitleCEO of Etsy

Joshua Gordon Silverman (born January 14, 1969)[1] is an American entrepreneur and technology executive who is chief executive officer of Etsy. He is known for co-founding the invitation website Evite and being CEO of Skype (2008–10) and shopping.com (2006–08).

Early life and education

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Silverman grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended Community High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in public policy from Brown University in 1991, after which he spent two years working for New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.[2] In 1995 he enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; he earned his MBA from Stanford in 1997.

Career

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In November 1998, Silverman quit his job at ADAC Laboratories[3] to work full time on building what would become Evite.[2][4] Evite was acquired by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in 2001. In 2006, Silverman became CEO of Shopping.com, a comparison-shopping engine owned by eBay.[5] In February 2008, he was named CEO of Skype.[6] He left Skype in 2010 to join Greylock Partners as an executive-in-residence, before moving on to an executive role at American Express.[7][8]

Silverman joined the board of Etsy in November, 2016. After an activist investor took a stake in the company and called for it sale, Etsy's board ousted longtime CEO Chad Dickerson and installed Silverman as chief executive officer.[8][9]

Personal life

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Silverman is married and has two children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Arlidge, John (October 13, 2019). "Interview: Etsy boss Josh Silverman has the craft to take on Amazon". The Sunday Times.
  2. ^ a b Ellin, Abby (2009-09-26). "Learning in Business by Following the Heart". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  3. ^ Gimein, Mark (1999-09-22). "Cool rules". Salon. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  4. ^ Canabou, Christine (2000-04-30). "Josh Silverman". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  5. ^ "President of EBay's PayPal Quits, Triggering Anxiety". Los Angeles Times. 2006-07-07. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  6. ^ "EBay names Shopping.com's Silverman to lead Skype". The Mercury News. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  7. ^ Rubenfire, Adam (February 13, 2011). "Former Skype CEO stresses entrepreneurial leadership". The Michigan Daily.
  8. ^ a b Gelles, David (2017-11-25). "Inside the Revolution at Etsy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  9. ^ Safdar, Khadeeja (2017-05-02). "Etsy Replaces Its CEO After Swinging to a Loss". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-01-04.