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Jeffrey Peterson

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Jeffrey Peterson (born October 11, 1972 in Santa Barbara, California) is an American technology entrepreneur and Arizona millionaire who is considered the pioneer of Hispanic Internet in the United States.[1] Known for both technological and business savvy, he is best known as the founder of Quepasa, one of the most popular Latin American online communities.[2]

Early life

Peterson grew up in Santa Barbara, California. The son of a British Mother and an American father, his paternal ancestors emigrated to Santa Barbara from Spain. Peterson was educated at public schools in the Santa Barbara, California area. According to an article published by the Arizona Republic, Peterson was raised next door to the director of the University of California, Santa Barbara computer laboratory, who introduced him to computer programming at an early age in 1978.[3]

Remotely connecting to the UCSB mainframe computers via terminal and modem for hours on end, it was here that Peterson would spend the most significant hours of his early childhood. The young guru would quickly learn to author his own Unix and VMS based software applications on the campus PDP-11 and DEC VAX systems. In the early years of computing, the largely technical science of systems programming was a pastime overrun by the likes of college professors and engineers. To fit in, Peterson reportedly maintained an identity for login on the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory PDP-10, where he was known by his peers as "Dr. Jeffrey Peterson", at the age of eleven.[4]

In 1981, Peterson landed his first job, as a troubleshooter for a software company focused on Commodore computers. In 1983, he worked as a product tester for vintage hardware manufacturer LOBO Systems. During the mid 1980s, Peterson focused on the development of software for freely distributed Bulletin Board System and Multi-User Dungeon gaming applications. He was known among his peers as an expert at implementing customized kernel-level multitasking solutions, who regularly pushed early hardware beyond traditional limits. Peterson, already a seasoned Assembly and C language developer in his early teens,[4] contributed heavily to the emerging F/OSS programming communities of the 1980s. He has published numerous texts, including articles on multiprocessing, Quasi-empirical methods, and Artificial Intelligence.

Peterson was ridiculed about his early programming years in a satirical article published by TheStreet.com in 2004.[5] The article, which highlights Peterson's public biography as filed in a Quepasa Proxy statement on April 23, 2004,[6] asks the question: "are we supposed to believe that the guy was programming computers when he was 10 years old?" Nonetheless, Peterson is credited at this age as a contributor on the inside cover of a best selling microcomputer software book in 1983.[7]

Well acquainted with the college scene from his earlier programming years, Peterson worked as a disc jockey at UCSB college radio station KCSB-FM from 1986 to 1990.[8] During the late 1980s, Peterson held the position of "Traffic Manager" on the sixteen-member executive committee at college radio station KCSB-FM that gave both Jim Rome and Sean Hannity their first radio broadcasting jobs.[8]

Peterson dropped out of high school in 1988 at age 16, to pursue what would become a successful career in Investments. He continued postliminary study in the areas of Law and History.

Career

Wall Street Years

In 1989, Peterson landed a job in operations at Brokerage firm Lehman Brothers, where he quickly learned about the stock market. He would later pass the industry exams, becoming a Stock Broker at age nineteen. After working for several brokerage firms, he landed in the field of Investment Banking, where he gained experience in Corporate Finance. Peterson would go on to work with investment groups that financed hundreds of companies primarily through Initial Public Offering transactions during the strong stock market conditions of the early 1990s.[3]

Quepasa.com

In 1997, Peterson founded Quepasa.com.[9] The website was the first major online community to focus on U.S. Hispanic Internet users. A year later, he successfully persuaded Arizona sports mogul Jerry Colangelo to help raise in excess of $20 million dollars of seed capital to launch the company. Phoenix Suns star Jason Kidd signed on as an investor. Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway joined in, investing $500,000.[3][10][11]

Within months, Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres joined the Quepasa Board of Directors.[12] Peterson went on to sell a stake in the Spanish language website to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Telemundo LLC.[13] CNBC Chief Business Commentator and former FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman joined Quepasa's Board of Directors.[12] After meeting with Peterson during an online interview at the offices of the Miami Herald, Gloria Estefan signed on as Quepasa's official spokesperson and investor.[10] Quepasa billboards, a frequent sight in Hispanic cities across the United States, encouraged Latinos to join "El Mundo Nuevo" (the New World) online. Millions of them did.

On June 24 of 1999, Quepasa went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market.[12][14][15] By the end of the day, Quepasa was worth $272 million. The proud young company founder was featured in live interviews on CNN and CNBC.[16][17] At age 26, Peterson had seen his net worth rise by $36 million. [1][3][18]

A year later, Quepasa was named the most popular online destination for U.S. Hispanics, ahead of competitors Starmedia and Yahoo! Español.[10]

Quepasa Management Controversy

Shortly after the Quepasa public offering, Peterson was ousted from the company by Gary Trujillo, the new CEO that Peterson hired to run Quepasa sixty days prior.[19] Speaking about the surprise management coup to the Arizona Republic, Peterson was quoted as saying, "He (Trujillo) breached every ounce of trust I placed in his hands." [10]

In a lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Peterson was accused of competing with Quepasa.[20] The lawsuit was settled 90 days later, with Quepasa paying $2.4 million to Peterson.[10] Trujillo would later concede that the problem was a "personality issue". [2] [21]

Peterson subsequently resigned from the Board of Directors, still Quepasa's largest single shareholder.[22] His exit from Quepasa would "leave the company in the hands of a chief executive officer and a board of directors inexperienced in both the Internet and the technology that ran it." [10]

Vayala Corporation

In July 2001, Peterson founded Internet search company Vayala Corporation with Brian Long Lu, son of Asian technology mogul Hong Liang Lu, and Mike Marriott. Vayala, a developer of large scale dynamic search technologies, was successful in securing venture capital financing with executives of Softbank Corp. In 2002, Vayala was acquired by Quepasa.[23]

During this time, The Arizona Republic ran a photo of Peterson on the front cover of the Sunday edition, in a three part feature about his career. The series ran Sep. 9 and 10, 2001, concluding on September 11, 2001, the day of infamous attacks on the World Trade Center.

Quepasa Takeover and Resurrection

By 2002, Quepasa shares had declined in value under the leadership of CEO Trujillo to virtual worthlessness. In media reports, Trujillo blamed the decline in Quepasa's market value on unfavorable market conditions and the ".com bubble".[24] The Chicago Tribune wrote: "Even with Internet Winter blowing cold wind across the digital landscape, many experts were surprised to hear the death rattle of America's once super-successful Hispanic-centered Web operation, Quepasa.com." [25]

Later that year, Peterson led a group of investors through a successful proxy fight and hostile takeover of Quepasa, reportedly investing millions of his own money. [3][26][27] Shortly after the takeover, Peterson was again named Chairman and Chief Executive of Quepasa.[28]

In January 2004, the Business Journal of Phoenix reported that Quepasa was "in the midst of a revival led by its creator, Jeffrey Peterson." [4] [29] By 2006, Quepasa shares had increased in value by $150 million.[30]

On November 5, 2006, Peterson again left the company, after selling 30% of Quepasa to then-multimillionaire investor Richard Scott, [31][32] who would later become Governor-elect of Florida.[33]

Political Activity

Peterson, a Democrat, has been involved in political circles. His political affiliations have often been related to Hispanic interests.

In 2003, Peterson was appointed to the Arizona-Mexico Commission by then-Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano.[34] By 2005, he had been appointed to the Executive Committee.

In 2005, Peterson was appointed to the Cross-Border transactions committee of the Arizona Department of Real Estate.[35] The committee is focused on international Real Estate transactions between residents of Arizona and Mexico.

In 2005, Peterson was appointed as the Chair of the Technology Subcommittee of the 2006 Executive Bond Committee, by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.[36] The $850 million bond initiative was approved by voters in March 2006.

Peterson financially supported the March 25, 2006 and April 10, 2006 reform marches by Immigrants.

Peterson was a co-host at a June 1, 2006 fundraiser for Arizona Senatorial Candidate Jim Pederson featuring ex-President Bill Clinton.[37]

It was reported that Peterson held a fundraiser at his residence for Barack Obama featuring Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and actress Scarlett Johansson on August 21, 2008.[38]

According to Maricopa County, Arizona property records, Peterson's residence is listed at the same address as Arizona Senator John McCain.[39]

Hollywood Ties

For unknown reasons, Peterson has been known to maintain ties with significant entertainment industry personalities. For example, Peterson signed Gloria Estefan as Quepasa's spokesperson and investor in 1999.[10] Movie producer Paul Mazursky was an investor in Peterson's startup, Vayala Corp.[23] The co-founder of rock band Dishwalla is listed as a member of the Board of Directors in an early Quepasa Registration Statement.[40] Peterson is a childhood friend of Rap Music producer Damizza. In September 2005, Quepasa announced a marketing deal with Jennifer Lopez.[41] Even Sammy Hagar, who markets Mexican Tequila, has been reported to forge ties with Quepasa.[42]

Current activities

Peterson is considered to be amongst the top authorities on Hispanic Internet in the United States.[43] He maintains in a number of IT industry advisory roles. Peterson serves on the Hispanic committee of the Interactive Advertising Bureau in New York.[44] According to his public biography, he acts as a technology consultant to the Government of Mexico.[45]

On July 20, 2009, Peterson sold the internet domain name demand.com to Demand Media Inc., a company controlled by former Myspace Chairman Richard Rosenblatt, according to multiple news reports.[46][47]

References

  1. ^ "a Latino Web pioneer", Hispanic Magazine, Volume 17; Issue 5; ISSN 0898-3097 , 1 May 2004
  2. ^ "Latinos clicking into the online revolution at record rate", by Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 1999
  3. ^ a b c d "death of a dot-com", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, 9 September 2001, cover story
  4. ^ a b "California Public Schools Forum" Volume 2: Microcomputers Graduate School of Education, UCSB, June 1987 (98 pgs.)
  5. ^ "The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week" by George Mannes, TheStreet.com, 28 May 2004
  6. ^ Form DEF-14A, quepasa.com, inc., 23 April 2004
  7. ^ Jeffries, R. Commodore 64 fun and games: volume 2, Warner Books, New York, N.Y., c1983. ISBN 0-446-38183-7 LCC: GV1469.2
  8. ^ a b "La Cumbre" Yearbook, Volumes 67-68, Copyright 1987, 1988 ASUCSB
  9. ^ "Hispanic market one to lure" by Greg Farrell, USA Today, 6 Aug. 1999
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "tumult in top ranks key in Quepasa's downfall", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, 10 September 2001
  11. ^ "Quepasa: helpless to stop fall Hispanic dot.com" by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, 11 September 2001
  12. ^ a b c Form S-1/A, quepasa.com, inc., 24 June 1999
  13. ^ Form SC-13D, quepasa.com, inc., 6 July 1999
  14. ^ "Quepasa.com soars following initial public offering" by Reshma Kapadia, Reuters News, 24 June 1999
  15. ^ "Reception hot for Quepasa.com: Investors bid up web site IPO in heavy trading", Russ Wiles, The Arizona Republic, 25 June 1999
  16. ^ "Quepasa.com CEO", Jan Hopkins, CNNfn: Capital Ideas, 24 June 1999
  17. ^ "Moneyline News Hour", Lou Dobbs, CNNfn, 24 June 1999
  18. ^ "Rocketing to Cyberspace", Hispanic Magazine (Cover Story), July–August 1999.
  19. ^ Quepasa fires co-founder, CNNfn, 2 August 1999
  20. ^ Form 8-K, quepasa.com, inc., 2 August 1999
  21. ^ "1999 Media Markets Report: Clicking Online" By Vaughn Hagerty, Hispanic Business, 26 May 2000
  22. ^ "Quepasa.com Ex-Exec Had 18% Of Stk, Highest Pay" By Rick Jurgens, Dow Jones News Service, 2 Aug. 1999
  23. ^ a b Quepasa announces agreement to acquire Vayala Corporation", Business Wire, 29 Aug. 2002.
  24. ^ Shareholder Letter on Form 425, quepasa.com, inc., 17 September 2001
  25. ^ "Quepasa.com no mas?" by James Coates, The Chicago Tribune, 1 January 2001
  26. ^ "Quepasa.com kills merger deal", by Angela Gonzales, The Business Journal of Phoenix, 6 February 2002.
  27. ^ "Quepasa's board to step aside: liquidation option abandoned", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, 15 February 2002
  28. ^ Form 8-K, quepasa.com, inc., 26 April 2002
  29. ^ "Quepasa.com regroups after difficult times", by Ruben Hernandez, The Business Journal of Phoenix, 30 January 2004.
  30. ^ "Marketwatch historical stock quote for QPSA, trade date Oct. 24, 2006". Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  31. ^ "Quepasa corp. lands major Fla. investor", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, 23 March 2006
  32. ^ Form 8-K, Quepasa Corporation, 7 November 2006
  33. ^ "Rick Scott Defends Investment In Quepasa Corporation", ABC 25, West Palm Beach News (wpbf.com), 12 August 2010
  34. ^ "Governor Janet Napolitano Appoints Quepasa Founder and CEO Jeffrey Peterson", PR Newswire, 23 July 2003 (316 words)
  35. ^ Cross-Border Transactions Committee, Arizona Department of Real Estate Website, 6 June 2005
  36. ^ 2006 Bond Program, City of Phoenix Website, 19 December 2005
  37. ^ "Senate 2006; Former president backs Pederson at fundraiser: Clinton visits Valley", The Hotline, 2 June 2006
  38. ^ Scarlett Johansson in Phoenix for Obama, The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com, Retrieved on 2008-08-21
  39. ^ "Maricopa County Assessor website". Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  40. ^ Form S-1, quepasa.com, inc., 10 March 1999
  41. ^ "JLO by Jennifer Lopez and Quepasa Team Up to Reach Hispanic Shoppers Online", PR Newswire, 21 Sept. 2005
  42. ^ "Quepasa, Sammy Hagar forge promotional alliance", The Business Journal of Phoenix, 12 August 2003
  43. ^ "Hip to be Hispanic: American pop culture showing Latin accent", by Liz Stevens, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 November 2002, [special feature]
  44. ^ Hispanic Committee, IAB Website, May, 2006
  45. ^ Form 10-KSB, Quepasa Corporation, 31 March 2006
  46. ^ "inter123 Corporation and Demand Media Inc enter into an agreement in regards to demand.com". Demand Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-11-17. [dead link]
  47. ^ "Demand Media Buys Demand.com". socalTECH.com. Retrieved 2009-11-17.

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