Esther Dyson - Investor and Philanthropist
Esther Dyson is a Swiss-born American investor. She is also a successful author, commentator, philanthropist, and the executive founder of Wellville, a non-profit organization focused on improving equitable well-being.
Dyson focuses her investment activities as an angel investor on healthcare, open government, digital technology, biotechnology, and outer space. She also received training as a backup cosmonaut in Moscow.
exits
About Esther Dyson
Location
Esther Dyson was born in Sweden but lives in New York, USA. Dyson attended Harvard University where she studied economics. After graduating, she worked for Forbes as a fact-checker. Dyson then spent five years as a securities analyst on Wall Street, after which she took on other analytical roles, gaining industry experience.
Business Ventures
In 1982, Dyson moved to Rosen Research. The following year, she bought the company, renamed it EDventure Holdings, and continued the company newsletter as Release 1.0. Dyson ran PC Forum, the computer industry’s leading annual conference during this time. In 2005, she sold EDventure to CNET and left the firm in 2007.
Currently, Dyson is the executive founder of Wellville, a 10-year non-profit project dedicated to demonstrating the value of long-term investments in health and equity.
Dyson is an active investor in health-related startups. Some of these startups include 23andMe, 4D Healthware, Basil Health, Big Health, Boundless.ai, CareMESH, Clover, and Health. She is a board member of 23andMe, Luxoft, Meetup, Pressreader, Wellpass, and Yandex.
Remarkable Investments Esther Dyson has made
120 investments and 28 exits. On August 4, 2021, Dyson invested $2.5M in Humanity in the seed round. Her most notable exits are XO Markets, Vizu Corporation, and Visible Path.
Achievements
Some of Dyson’s most notable achievements include:
- She paid to train as a backup spaceflight participant for Charles Simonyi. Even though she didn’t make it to the International Space Station on that 2009 flight, Dyson hopes to go to space in the near future.
- From 1998 to 2000, Dyson founded ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and in 2004 sat on its reform committee, which helped define the decision-making and governance structures for individuals of ICANN.
- She is a trustee of the Charity Navigator, ExpandED Schools, providing outside-of-class services for children.
Esther Dyson in the News
A July 2021 article on Heise highlighted Dyson’s legacy of investing and achievements and celebrated the entrepreneur’s 70th birthday. The article also showcased her as a fighter for internet freedoms.
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