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

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

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

Silverman is married and has two children.[1]

References

  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.