Isabel Maxwell

Isabel Maxwell (born 1950) is a French-born academic and entrepreneur. Maxwell is a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum, the President emerita of Commtouch, and the co-founder of Magellan. She is a Director of Israel Venture Network and built up their Social Entrepreneur program in Israel from 2004-2010. Maxwell was also Senior Adviser to Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus' not-for-profit microfinance organization Grameen America.

Maxwell, along with her fraternal twin Christine, was born in 1950 in France to Elisabeth and Robert Maxwell. Following her graduation from Oxford in 1972, she gained a Diploma in Education (French) from the University of Edinburgh before beginning her career in film and television production.

In 1981, Maxwell moved to the United States and began to collaborate with Dale Djerassi whom she married in 1984. They co-produced the feature film '68 (released in 1988 by New World Pictures) and the 1982 PBS documentary, Bhutan – A Strange Survival, introduced by the late Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois and narrated by Ludovic Kennedy. Michael Aris, the late husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, served as adviser and writer. In 1982 Maxwell also wrote and directed Grays Inn - A Fountain of Justice, narrated by Ludovic Kennedy as well.

Maxwell was a co-founder, along with her husband and twin sister, of the company behind early search engine Magellan. Isabel joined sister Christine who was leading a small company called Research on Demand that was online in 1993"[1]". The company changed names to McKinley Group and became a search engine with ratings. Isabel served as a senior vice president (David Hayden "[2]", her second husband, was CEO and her sister was publisher). In early 1996, the company was poised to IPO, but investment bank Robertson Stephens decided to put Excite on the market first. A few months later, IPOs became difficult and the startup company was running out of money. Magellan wanted to go public with Lehman doing the offering but was unsuccessful. Michael Wolfe's book Burn Rate also describes a failed deal to combine with Wolff New Media, which shortly later went broke itself. With money running short, Isabel's husband was pushed out by investors and her sister left. Isabel resumed the responsibility to dispose of the company. After a layoff, the firm was sold for $18 million (of stock) to competitor Excite.

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