Jerry Yang
Born 1968 · Age 57
Taiwanese-born American computer programmer, internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist; co‑founder and former CEO of Yahoo! Inc.; founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures; philanthropist.
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Life & Career Timeline
Immigrated to the United States (San Jose, CA)
Moved with his mother and brother from Taiwan to San Jose, California.
Early schooling in San Jose
Attended Ruskin Elementary School, Sierramont Middle School, and later Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose.
Matriculated at Stanford University (approx.)
Began undergraduate/graduate studies in electrical engineering at Stanford (estimated start, completed both degrees in four years).
High school graduation (approx.)
Graduated Piedmont Hills High School; was student-body president and class valedictorian (dates approximated from birth year).
Met David Filo at Stanford
Met fellow student David Filo, later Yahoo! co‑founder.
Completed BS and MS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford
Earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Stanford University in four years.
Six‑month exchange program in Japan; met future wife
Traveled to Japan on a six‑month Stanford exchange program; met Akiko Yamazaki during the program.
Created 'Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web'
Co‑created an online directory of websites while at Stanford; initial site that became Yahoo!.
Traffic milestone for the guide
Site traffic reported in sources as reaching ~170,000 visitors per day (different sources report 100k–170k in late 1994).
Second round funding from Reuters and SoftBank
Yahoo! secured further strategic/venture investment from Reuters and SoftBank in fall 1995 (amounts not specified in provided text).
Dropped out of Stanford PhD program to run Yahoo! (approx.)
Around March/April 1995 Yang and Filo left their doctoral program to focus on the company full‑time.
Sequoia Capital investment and company formalization
Yahoo! received investment and began formal company operations; Tim Koogle was hired as CEO and Yang & Filo named 'Chief Yahoo.' (Wikipedia: April 1995 $2M from Sequoia).
Began selling advertising and Reuters partnership
Yahoo! began selling advertising (Aug 1995) and partnered with Reuters to provide news; early product/monetization milestones.
Product launches: My Yahoo! and Yahooligans (approximate)
Introduced personalization (My Yahoo!) and a children's directory (Yahooligans) in the mid‑1990s, expanding portal services.
Yahoo! IPO (went public)
Yahoo! went public in April 1996; company had about 49 employees at IPO.
Met Jack Ma on first trip to China
Met future Alibaba founder Jack Ma at the Great Wall in 1997; photo commemorating the meeting hangs in Alibaba offices.
Named to MIT Technology Review TR100
Recognized as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under age 35 (TR100 listing).
Yahoo! 1999 financial milestone
1999 revenues roughly $588.6M and profit ~ $61M; market value reported around $70B in some sources.
Dot‑com peak (company valuation highs)
Yahoo! stock reached a peak (sources cite $237/share at peak in 2000), company market cap peaked in tech bubble (various peak figures reported).
Dot‑com crash impact on Yahoo!
Yahoo!'s market value and stock price tumbled after the bubble burst: reported falls from 2000 peaks to much lower valuations by 2001.
Shi Tao arrest (Yahoo! cooperation with Chinese authorities)
Yahoo! provided information used in the arrest and conviction of Chinese journalist Shi Tao (arrest Nov 2004); later controversy when revealed.
Yahoo! invests in Alibaba (40% stake)
Under Yang's direction, Yahoo! purchased a 40% stake in Alibaba for $1 billion plus Yahoo! China assets valued at about $700 million.
Shi Tao revelations and criticism
In fall 2005 news broke that Yahoo! had cooperated in the 2004 arrest; Reporters Without Borders criticized Yahoo!, calling it 'a Chinese police informant.'
Became Yahoo! CEO
Yahoo! board replaced Terry Semel and appointed Jerry Yang interim CEO (Yang served as CEO from 2007–2009).
Pledged $75M to Stanford University
Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki pledged $75 million to Stanford; $50M funded the Jerry Yang & Akiko Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building (Y2E2).
Congressional hearings and apology
Yang faced Congressional questioning in November 2007 over Yahoo!'s role in arrests of Chinese dissidents; he apologized to Shi Tao's mother and Yahoo! later settled lawsuits.
Yahoo! settlement and Human Rights Fund established
Yahoo! settled suits with affected Chinese dissidents and Yang established the Yahoo! Human Rights Fund to support online dissidents.
Microsoft unsolicited $44.6B acquisition offer
Microsoft offered $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo! (Feb 2008); Yang and the board declined to sell and negotiations later collapsed.
Microsoft-Yahoo negotiations end; stock plunges
Deal talks failed in May 2008; Yahoo!'s stock fell and investors criticized Yang and the board, sparking lawsuits and a proxy fight.
Settlement of Icahn proxy fight
Proxy fight led by Carl Icahn was settled in July 2008.
Laogai Museum opening funded by Yahoo Human Rights Fund (late 2008)
The Laogai Museum in Washington, D.C., showcasing China's laogai penal system, opened late 2008 with funding from the Yahoo! Human Rights Fund.
Reported intention to step down as CEO
Wall Street Journal reported Yang would step down as CEO once a replacement was found.
Carol Bartz named Yahoo! CEO; Yang steps down
Carol Bartz was appointed CEO of Yahoo!; Yang returned to the title 'Chief Yahoo' and remained on Yahoo!'s board.
Founded AME Cloud Ventures
After leaving Yahoo!, Yang founded AME Cloud Ventures, a venture firm investing in data/cloud companies (pronounced 'ah‑meh').
Yahoo! sold a portion of its Alibaba stake
Yahoo! sold part of its stake in Alibaba for approximately $7.6 billion (2012), a liquidity event that materially affected Yahoo!'s and (indirectly) Yang's holdings.
Resigned from Yahoo! and its boards
Yahoo! announced Yang was leaving the company and resigning from the Yahoo! board and other company boards (Jan 2012); he also resigned from boards of Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba Corp.
Began active investing/mentoring via AME
Through AME Cloud Ventures Yang invested in numerous startups including Tango, Evernote, Wattpad, Wish, Zoom, Vectra Networks and Shijiebang (dates vary).
Joined multiple corporate boards (ongoing roles)
Took and served on boards including Workday (from 2013), Curbside (2013–2018), and Lenovo (2013–2023).
Rejoined Alibaba board (2014– )
Yang served on Alibaba's board previously (2006–2012) and returned to a role on the Alibaba board around 2014 (ongoing per sources).
Alibaba IPO windfall for Yahoo!
Alibaba's 2014 IPO put additional value into Yahoo!'s holdings; sources cite an additional ~$9.4 billion realized in connection with the IPO for Yahoo! (affecting past stakeholders).
Verizon acquisition of Yahoo core (company milestone)
Verizon purchased Yahoo's core operating business in 2017 for approximately $4.48 billion (event impacted Yahoo!'s corporate trajectory, after Yang had left).
Pledged $25M to the Asian Art Museum
Yang and Akiko Yamazaki pledged $25 million to San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, the museum's largest donation at the time.
Loaned Chinese ink paintings to Stanford Cantor Arts Center
Loaned more than 50 works from his Chinese ink painting/calligraphy collection for the 'Ink Worlds' exhibition (summer 2018).
Featured in PBS documentary 'Asian Americans'
Yang was featured in the PBS documentary series exploring Asian American history and impact.
Asian Art Museum pavilion opened
A new pavilion at the Asian Art Museum, funded by Yang and Yamazaki's donation and named in their honor, opened in 2020.
Lawsuit alleging Yahoo aided Chinese surveillance (filed Sept 2, 2020)
A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court alleging Yahoo! provided private emails to the Chinese government; Yang named among past executives in the suit.
Co‑founded The Asian American Foundation (TAAF)
Yang was among the co‑founders of TAAF, a $250 million initiative to address racism against Asian Americans and provide services to AAPI communities; he sits on the board.
Elected Chair of Stanford University Board of Trustees
Jerry Yang was elected chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees (served as chair 2021–2025 per sources).
Asia Game Changer Awards: Yang and Yamazaki honored
Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki were among the awardees at the 2023 Asia Game Changer Awards.
Representative AME/partner investments (2021–2023)
Publicly reported AME/Jerry Yang‑linked investments in companies and rounds across 2021–2023 (examples include Vida Health Series D $110M (May 5, 2021), Boundless $25M (Apr 22, 2021), and others listed in public funding reports).
Left Lenovo board (effective Nov 16, 2023)
Jerry Yang resigned as an independent non‑executive director of Lenovo Group Limited effective November 16, 2023.
Net worth reported (May 2025)
Multiple sources (including updated references) list Jerry Yang's estimated net worth at approximately $3.1 billion as of May 2025.
Key Achievement Ages
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