Steve Kirsch

Steven T. Kirsch
Born (1956-12-24) December 24, 1956
Los Angeles, California
Nationality United States
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation Founder and CTO of OneID, Inc.[1]
Known for Inventing the optical mouse, FrameMaker, founder of Infoseek
Net worth US$230 million (2007)[2]

Steven Todd Kirsch (born 1956 in Los Angeles, California) is an American serial entrepreneur who has started seven companies: Mouse Systems, Frame Technology Corp., Infoseek, Propel, Abaca, OneID, and Token. Kirsch's most recent venture, Token, focuses on faster, more secure worldwide payments.[3] He invented and owns a patent on an early version of the optical mouse. In 2007, his personal fortune was estimated at $230 million, the majority earned from the IPO of Infoseek and the acquisition of Frame Technology.[2]

He has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[4]

He used part of his fortune to set up a $75M charitable fund and became an philanthropist. On August 11, 2007, Kirsch announced on his personal Web site that he had been diagnosed with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer. His cancer is shrinking as a result of treatment using an experimental HDAC inhibitor, LBH-589.

In 2003, Hillary Clinton presented Kirsch with a National Caring Award from the Caring Institute in Washington DC. The award celebrates those special individuals who, in transcending self, devote their lives in service to others, especially the disadvantaged, the poor, the disabled and the dying.[5]

Career

Steven Kirsch founded Mouse Systems Corporation in 1982. After he left the company, he co-founded Frame Technology Corp. in 1986 to market the FrameMaker publishing software. After Frame was acquired by Adobe Systems for $500M, he founded a Web portal company, Infoseek Corporation, in 1994. After Infoseek was acquired by Disney, he founded Propel Software Corporation in 1999. As of 2007, he was leading Abaca Technology Corp.[6] which makes an extremely accurate spam filter (99.99% according to two independent reviews).[7][8]

In September 2011, he started OneID[9] which is creating a user-centric Internet-scale digital identity system that uses public key cryptography to replace usernames and passwords with a single, stable, secure, digital identity that preserves privacy and is compatible with the NSTIC[10] goals.[11] The technology is currently utilized by a number of non-profits, such as Salsa, to increase the frequency and security of online donations.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Steve Kirsch profile". Linkedin.com.
  2. 1 2 Markoff, John (December 3, 2007). "Spam's End? Maybe, if Time Allows". Nytimes.com.
  3. ↑ "Token".
  4. ↑ "Kirsch Foundation: About The Founders". Kirschfoundation.org. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  5. ↑ "2003 Adult National Caring Award Winner". Caringinstitute.org. November 16, 2003.
  6. ↑ "abaca.com". abaca.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  7. ↑ "Tolly Group Review of Abaca" (PDF). Tolly Group. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "Spam Star" (PDF). Network Computing. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "oneid.com". oneid.com. 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  10. ↑ "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace". Nist.gov. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  11. ↑ Hardy, Quentin (2011-11-03). "OneID Aims to Unite Devices to Fight Hackers". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "Salsa Labs Launches Quick Donate". Salsa Labs. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
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