Anthony J. Wood (born December 4, 1965) is an English-born American billionaire businessman who is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Roku, Inc.[1][2][3] In April 2021, he owned 15% stake in Roku, and had a net worth of US$7.2 billion.[4]
Anthony Wood | |
|---|---|
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| Born | December 4, 1965 England |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Texas A&M University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder, Chairman and CEO of Roku, Inc. |
| Spouse | Susan Wood |
| Children | 3 |
Personal life
editWood was born and grew up in Manchester, England, followed by the State of Georgia in the U.S.[1] At the age of 13, he moved to the Netherlands with family, and then lived in Texas in the U.S.[5]
In 1984, when Wood was a teenager, he published "Lunar Lander" in the Ahoy! magazine.[6] He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.[7] It was there that Wood met his wife, Susan, who was studying environmental design.[5] The couple has three children,[8] and reside in Palo Alto, California.[9]
Career
editWhile in college, Wood founded his first company, "AW Software", to sell computer programs. He also founded "SunRize Industries" while studying engineering, developing software and hardware for the Amiga.[5][10][11] After graduating, he founded "SunRize version 2". Later, in 1995, Wood launched another company, "iBand", which was bought by Macromedia for $36 million. Wood became the vice president of Internet Authoring at Macromedia.[12]
Wood left Macromedia in September 1997 to launch ReplayTV, a digital video recorder (DVR) maker.[13] Wood began working on the DVR development reportedly after being "frustrated" at missing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.[12] Features introduced by ReplayTV included ad-skipping, rewinding and pausing live television.[14][15] Wood sold ReplayTV in 2001 to SONICblue Incorporated for US$42 million.[15]
In 2002, Wood founded Roku, Inc., his sixth startup, to market home digital devices. "Roku" means “six” in Japanese.[13] In 2007 Netflix, Inc. employed Wood as the vice president of Netflix's "Internet TV", directly under Reed Hastings.[15] Wood continued to be the CEO of Roku in this period.[2] At Netflix, he built a team which developed a Netflix-streaming player as well as applications allowing PC users to stream Netflix onto their computers. Netflix later spun Wood’s engineering team back out to Roku.[13]
Philanthropy
editIn 2021, Wood and his wife, Susan, donated $48.2 million to create the "WoodNext Foundation", a Texas based philanthropy.[16] Its priorities include mental health, homelessness, scientific and biomedical research, disaster recovery, and economic opportunity with a focus on addressing root causes.[17] Wood made $71 million in charitable commitments in 2022, and appeared on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of America’s 50 biggest donors.[18] In 2023, the WoodNext Foundation granted $14.3 million to the University of Pittsburgh for the study of heart disease and dementia,[19][20] and $1.25 million to establish the BrightEdge Entrepreneurship Fellows Program through the American Cancer Society.[17]
References
edit- ^ a b "Anthony Wood". InfluenceWatch. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ a b Sherman, Alex (2021-06-18). "How Roku used the Netflix playbook to beat bigger players and rule streaming video". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ Szalai, Georg (2023-09-06). "Roku to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff, Take Charge of $55M-$65M for Removing Streaming Content". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ Tucker, Hank (2021-04-29). "Zuckerberg, Dorsey And 18 Other Billionaires Lead Massive Stock Sales". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ a b c "Trailblazers - True Vision - Texas A&M Foundation Spirit Magazine". Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ Wood, Anthony (April 1984). "Lunar Lander". Ahoy!. Ion International. pp. 35, 76. ISSN 8750-4383.
- ^ "Executive Profile: Anthony J. Wood". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ "How Roku is kicking the cable industry's butt & where it's going next [exclusive] - VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ Evangelista, Benny (2012-04-16). "Roku pins TV's future on Internet streaming". sfgate.com. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
- ^ "Perfect Sound". Amiga Hardware Database.
- ^ "Samplers /SunRize Industries: Perfect Sound". Big Book of Amiga Hardware.
- ^ a b "This Is the Man Responsible for Your Binge-Watching Addiction". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ a b c Hiltzik, Michael (October 13, 2010). "Roku box developer has a sixth sense about video". LA Times.
- ^ Hiltzik, Michael (October 13, 2010). "Roku box developer has a sixth sense about video". LA Times.
- ^ a b c Au-Yeung, Angel. "How Billionaire Anthony Wood Quit His Netflix Job, Founded Roku—And Then Quadrupled His Fortune In The Past Year". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ Rojc, Philip (2023-03-15). "Roku Founder Anthony Wood Is a Billionaire Donor to Watch. Here's an Overview". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
- ^ a b "American Cancer Society's BrightEdge Receives $1.25 Million Grant from WoodNext Foundation to Launch Entrepreneurship Fellows Program". American Cancer Society MediaRoom. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
- ^ Mento, Maria Di; Lindsay, Drew (2023-02-14). "Bill Gates again tops list of U.S. philanthropists". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
- ^ "Pitt lands $14.3 million for research linking dementia and cardiovascular disease". University of Pittsburgh. 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ^ Valletta, Maya (2023-02-17). "Pitt Expedites Research in Heart Disease, Dementia with $14.3 Million Award". Pittsburgh Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
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