Jack & Laura Dangermond – Billionaire

Jack and Laura Dangermond are cofounders of Esri, the industry leader in GIS technology, a specialized software used for creating digital maps. They founded their company, Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), in 1969 with $1,100 in personal savings. Today Esri dominates the industry, with over 40% of global GIS market share and more than $1 billion in annual revenue. The Dangermonds’ 350,000 customers use Esri products to make 150 million new maps each day. Jack got the idea to start the company after studying landscape architecture at Harvard, and he and Laura have since become known as a prolific philanthropists. Esri has gifted up to $1 billion of free GIS software to all American K-12 schools, and Jack was honored as a United Nations Champion of the Earth in 2013. Born to humble beginnings, the Dangermonds continues to attend work together every morning.

American environmental scientist and business executive Jack Dangermond has an estimated net worth of $3.4 billion as of April 2016 according to Forbes. Together with his wife Laura, he co-founded the privately held Geographic Information Systems software company, Environmental Systems Research Institute.

In addition to being the founder, Jack Dangermond also sits as the president of Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri). Today, Esri is recognized as the world’s  largest GIS software developer. Of Dutch ancestry, Dangermond attended California State Polytechnic University, Pomona  where he completed his undergraduate degree in landscape architecture and environmental science. Eventually, he attended the University of Minnesota where he received his Master of Architecture degree in Urban Planning. He also studied at Harvard University Graduate School of Design where he completed his master’s degree in Landscape Architecture in 1969. He is a recipient of 13 honorary doctoral degrees from different universities in the globe. Jack Dangermond is a recipient of various awards which include Cullum Geographical Medal from the American Geographical Society, John Wesley Powell Award from the U.S. Geological Survey, Alexander Graham Bell Medal from the National Geographic Society in 2010, Anderson Medal from the Association of American Geographers and Horwood Award of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.

Source:

1. forbes

2. therichest