PayPal, Inc. (Nasdaq:PYPL) today announced that Max Levchin, Chief Technology Officer, has been chosen as one of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, MIT's award winning Magazine of Innovation. The TR100, chosen by Technology Review, consists of 100 individuals under age 35 whose innovative work in business and technology has a profound impact on today's world. Nominees are recognized for their contribution in transforming the nature of technology in industries such as biotechnology, computing, energy, medicine, manufacturing, nanotechnology, telecommunications and transportation.
Levchin is a co-founder of the popular Internet payment service PayPal, where as CTO he is responsible for the company's software development, information management and security, and anti-fraud efforts. In less than three years, PayPal has grown to 16 million member accounts and currently facilitates an average of 295,000 payments each day.
"Max Levchin's expertise in online security and cryptography was a driving force behind the creation of the original PayPal product and continues to play a crucial role in our security and fraud prevention efforts today," said Peter Thiel, PayPal President and CEO. "We are very fortunate to have his remarkable passion for technology innovation working to protect the integrity of the PayPal network."
After emigrating with his family from Ukraine in 1991, Levchin graduated high school in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he received a B.S. degree in Computer Science. Prior to launching PayPal, Levchin co-founded several other startups, including a development firm for early palm-top security applications and one of the first web advertising services.
"I've always appreciated that working for oneself brings certain luxuries -- like the time to think creatively and pursue unusual paths of interest," said Levchin. "So I am honored to be recognized by an esteemed institution like MIT for doggedly sticking to this path and for the achievements which have been the result."
Levchin is being honored today during a conference and awards ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The event, themed "The Innovation Economy: How Technology is Transforming Existing Businesses and Creating New Ones," includes a full day of conference sessions and panel discussions followed by an evening awards ceremony. Hosted by Technology Review's Editor-in-Chief John Benditt and CNBC's Consuelo Mack, conference speakers include international leaders such as Kenneth Starr Esq.; Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Innovators Dilemma; Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU; Rodney Brooks, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Co-director of Project Oxygen, MIT; Richard Rashid, Senior Vice President, Microsoft Research; and David Tennenhouse, Vice President and Corporate Technology Group Director, Intel Corporation.
TR100's panel of judges includes:
-- Dr. David Baltimore, President, California Institute of Technology
-- Alfred Berkeley III, Vice Chairman, NASDAQ
-- Richard Demillo, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer,
Hewlett-Packard
-- Dr. Philippe Janson, Vice President, IBM Academy of Technology
-- Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe, Venture Partner, Polaris Venture Partners
-- Dr. Cherry A. Murray, Senior Vice President of Physical Science Research,
Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies
-- Nicholas Negroponte, Director, MIT Media Laboratory
-- Dr. Judith Rodin, President, University of Pennsylvania
About Technology Review Inc.
Technology Review, MIT's magazine of innovation, is the world's oldest technology magazine. The magazine, as well as its signature events and Internet businesses, delivers essential information on emerging technologies on the verge of commercialization. Since 1998, Technology Review's paid circulation has more than tripled, from 92,000 to 310,000 (as of January 2002). Several hundred thousand current MIT alumni, faculty and students, senior technology thinkers and influencers -- venture capitalists, chief scientists, researchers, senior corporate executives, investors, and innovators throughout the world -- constitute the Technology Review community.
About PayPal
PayPal enables any business or consumer with email to send and receive online payments securely, conveniently and cost-effectively. PayPal's account-based network builds on the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards to create a global payment system. PayPal has more than 16 million member accounts, including more than 3 million business accounts. In 2001, PayPal processed over $3.5 billion in payments.
