Adam D'Angelo
D'Angelo in 2011
Born (1984-08-21) August 21, 1984
New York, United States
EducationPhillips Exeter Academy
California Institute of Technology (B.S.)
OccupationCEO of Quora
Known forFormer CTO of Facebook

Adam D'Angelo (born August 21, 1984) is an American internet entrepreneur. He is best known for his role as the co-founder and CEO of Quora, based in Mountain View, California.

Early life and education

Adam D'Angelo was born on August 21, 1984 in New York, United States.[1][2] He attended Phillips Exeter Academy for high school. There, he developed the Synapse Media Player (a music suggestion software) along with Mark Zuckerberg and others.[3]

From 2002 to 2006, he attended California Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science.[4]

Career

In 2004, while attending college, D'Angelo also created the website BuddyZoo, which allowed users to upload their AIM buddy list and compare them with those of other users. The service also generated graphs based on the buddy lists.[3][5]

D'Angelo joined Facebook shortly after its launch in 2004, and served as its chief technology officer (CTO) from 2006 to 2008, and also served as its vice president of engineering, until 2008.[6][7]

In June 2009, he started Quora.[8] He invested $20 million of his own money into Quora as part of their Series B round of financing.[9] Apart from Quora, his notable investments include Instagram before its acquisition by Facebook for $1 billion, Asana, a work management platform co-founded by Facebook co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz, and Lunchclub, a networking platform using artificial intelligence.[2]

D'Angelo is also the founder of an AI startup, Poe.[10]

Other work

D'Angelo was an advisor to and investor in Instagram before its acquisition by Facebook in 2012.[11]

In 2018, he joined the board of directors of OpenAI.[12] In 2023, D'Angelo voted to remove Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI.[13][12] When Sam Altman returned to OpenAI, the other three board members involved in Altman's ouster resigned. D'Angelo retained his position making him the only of the six board members on the eve of the ouster still in office.

Public image

His tenure at Quora has been marked by a leadership style that is often described as inflexible, a trait that has come into focus during discussions on OpenAI's board about potentially reinstating Sam Altman as CEO.[12]

Within Quora, D'Angelo's approach to decision-making has been characterized by resistance to change.[12] Several former employees have noted the difficulty of persuading him to reconsider his positions.[12] This rigidity in leadership is further underscored by a cautious approach towards trust, which, according to these accounts, is not easily earned under his management.[12]

D'Angelo, while recognized for his technical expertise, has maintained a low public profile, diverging from common practices in tech company marketing and media engagement.[12] His strategy for Quora's board governance has been noteworthy, especially during a prolonged period when the board included only one additional voting member, Matt Cohler of Benchmark, a known associate and investor.[12]

Honors and achievements

In 2001, he was placed eighth at the USA Computing Olympiad as a high school student and he won a silver medal at the 2002 International Olympiad in Informatics.[14]

ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC): California Institute of Technology Beavers (team of 3), World Finalists 2003, 2004; North American Champions 2003; World Finals Silver Medals 2004; World Finals co-coach 2005.[15][16]

In 2005, he was one of the top 24 finalists in the Algorithm Coding Competition of the Topcoder Collegiate Challenge.

Fortune magazine included D'Angelo as runner-up in its "Smartest people in tech" article in 2010.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "These are OpenAI's board members who fired Sam Altman". Hindustan Times. November 18, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Levitsky, Allison (October 17, 2019). "Q: WHAT DOES ADAM D'ANGELO WANT TO DO WITH QUORA?".
  3. 1 2 David Kirkpatrick (2010). The Facebook Effect. pp. 26–27.
  4. ↑ Benter, Allison (June 9, 2006). "California Institute of Technology 112th Annual Commencement, June 9, 2006". California Institute of Technology Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2019.
  5. ↑ "BuddyZoo". Archived from the original on October 28, 2003. Retrieved October 28, 2003.
  6. ↑ Eldon, Eric (May 11, 2008). "Facebook CTO Adam D'Angelo to leave the company". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  7. ↑ Feeney, Kevin J. (February 24, 2005). "Business, Casual". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  8. ↑ Rivlin, Gary (April 28, 2011). "Does Quora Really Have All the Answers?". Wired. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Quora Raises $50M At $400M From Peter Thiel, D'Angelo Puts In $20M Of His Own Money". TechCrunch. May 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ Pardes, Arielle. "Adam D'Angelo's Endless Quest to Answer Everything". The Information.
  11. ↑ Sengupta, Somini; Perlroth, Nicole; Wortham, Jenna (April 14, 2012). "Instagram Founders Were Helped by Bay Area Connections - The New York Times". The New York Times.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Quiet Silicon Valley Insider Complicating Sam Altman's Return". The Information.
  13. ↑ Konrad, Alex (November 17, 2023). "These Are The People That Fired OpenAI CEO Sam Altman". Forbes. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Exeter Olympians". Exeter Bulletin. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Standings for The 2003 ACM Programming Contest World Finals". Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Standings for The 2004 ACM Programming Contest World Finals". Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ Hempel, Jessi; Kowitt, Beth; Mangalindan, JP (July 9, 2010). "The smartest people in tech - Engineer runners-up: Cheever and D'Angelo (22)". Fortune Magazine. CNN. Archived from the original on September 12, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
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