Michael Birch (businessman)
| Michael Birch | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 7 July 1970[1] Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England, UK[2] |
| Occupation | Computer programmer |
| Spouse(s) | Xochi Birch |
Michael Birch (born 7 July 1970 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire)[2] is an English computer programmer and entrepreneur. Michael attended Imperial College London where he studied for a BSc in Physics (1988–1991). Michael is married to Xochi Birch, with whom he co-founded over half a dozen startups in the past 15 years. Together with Michael's brother Paul Birch they founded BirthdayAlarm.com and with Morgan Sowden they founded Ringo.com (which was sold to tickle.com in 2003).[3] Xochi and Michael later founded the online social networking website Bebo[4] in January 2005, with a major launch in July 2005. In 2007, Bebo had over 45 million registered users and was the sixth most popular site in the UK, bigger than AOL, Amazon.co.uk and bbc.co.uk.[5]
Michael and Xochi Birch sold Bebo to AOL in March 2008 for $850 million. Their combined 70% stake yielded a profit of $595 million from the deal.[6] Since then, the two have started five separate companies they run in parallel.[7] Their current project is The Battery, an exclusive but not elite members club[8] in San Francisco, with their vision stated as “to create a culture where inspiration is embraced, diverse communities come together and egos are checked at the door.”[9]
Michael and Xochi are supporters of the non-profit organization charity:water, having given over $4 million to their organization.[10] Michael also helped the organization launch mycharitywater.org, a fundraising platform that has raised more than $21 million for clean water projects around the world since launch in Fall 2009.
References [edit]
- ^ "Chatting with the new king of chat rooms". The Times (London). 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
- ^ a b Johnson, Bobbie (2008-03-17). "All American". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-01-19.
- ^ Dodson, Sean (2006-03-02). "Show and tell online". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ "Teen craze over networking sites". BBC News. 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ How to make 80 million friends and influence people at http://observer.guardian.co.uk (accessed October 12, 2007)
- ^ FT.com / In depth - AOL to ‘supercharge’ Bebo revenues
- ^ BBC interview with Michael and Xochi Birch on starting Bebo
- ^ Bebo Founders Go Analog With Exclusive Battery Club in San Francisco
- ^ The Battery San Francisco
- ^ "A bold idea: always use 100% of public donations to fund clean water projects in the field".
