Steve Kirsch
| Steven T. Kirsch | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
December 24, 1956 Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Inventing the optical mouse, FrameMaker, founder of Infoseek |
| Net worth | US$230 million (2007) |
Steven Todd Kirsch (born 1956 in Los Angeles, California) is an American serial entrepreneur who has started seven companies: Mouse Systems, Frame Technology Corp., Infoseek, Propel, Abaca, OneID, and Token. He invented and owns a patent on an early version of the optical mouse. In 2007, his personal fortune was estimated at $230 million, the majority earned from the IPO of Infoseek and the acquisition of Frame Technology.
Kirsch has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Steven Kirsch founded Mouse Systems Corporation in 1982. After he left the company, he co-founded Frame Technology Corp. in 1986 to market the FrameMaker publishing software. After Frame was acquired by Adobe Systems for $500 million, he founded a Web portal company, Infoseek Corporation, in 1994. After Infoseek was acquired by The Walt Disney Company, he founded Propel Software Corporation in 1999.
He used part of his fortune to set up a $75 million charitable fund and became an philanthropist. In 2003, Hillary Clinton presented Kirsch with a National Caring Award from the Caring Institute in Washington DC. The award celebrates those special individuals who, in transcending self, devote their lives in service to others, especially the disadvantaged, the poor, the disabled and the dying. In 2005 he founded Abaca, which made a spam filter (99.99% accurate according to two reviews). Abaca was acquired by Proofpoint, Inc. in 2013.
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