Rich Karlgaard

Rich Karlgaard
Born	Rich Karlgaard Bismarck, North Dakota, US
Occupation	Author
Period	1989–present
Notable works	Life 2.0 (2004) The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success (2014)

Rich Karlgaard is an American journalist, bestselling author, award-winning entrepreneur, and speaker. He was named publisher of Forbes magazine in 1998 and has written two books, Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness (2004), and The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success (2014). His first book was on The Wall Street Journal business bestseller list.

Karlgaard's books, articles, and speeches often focus on the fundamentals of business, the need for constant innovation, and the importance of building the right corporate culture.

Karlgaard was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. His father, Dick Karlgaard, was a multi-sport athlete, a physical education teacher, and a coach. He later became athletic director for Bismarck's public school and was twice named national high athletic director of the year. His mother, Pat (Hook) Karlgaard was a homemaker. His only brother, Dr. Joe Karlgaard, is currently the Athletic Director at Rice University.

Karlgaard graduated from Bismarck High in 1972, where he was named a three-year letterman in cross-country and track. He went on to attend Bismarck State College, formerly known as Bismarck Junior College, on a track scholarship and in 1974 competed in the National Junior College indoor championships in the 1,000-yard run. The following year he transferred to Stanford University, and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science.

After graduating from Stanford, Karlgaard became an editorial assistant at Runner's World magazine. Then in the early 1980s, he became a technical writer for the Electric Power Research Institute and a copywriter at Warr, Foote and Rose ad agency.

In 1985, Karlgaard and Anthony B. Perkins created the Churchill Club, which quickly became known as an organization dedicated to producing programs where "important people say important things." The first speaker was Robert Noyce, the inventor of the integrated circuit and cofounder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel. Other speakers have included then Arkansas governor and future United States President Bill Clinton, former CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer, and founder of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington. The Churchill Club now has over 7,500 members. For this effort, he was named a Northern California winner of the 1997 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

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