Mark Jonathan Pincus (born February 13, 1966) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Zynga, which makes online social games. Pincus also founded Freeloader, Inc., Tribe Networks, and Support.com. Pincus served as the CEO of Zynga until July 2013. Zynga’s top games include: Bubble Safari, CastleVille, ChefVille, CityVille, CityVille 2, CoasterVille, Draw Something, FarmVille, Yoville, FarmVille 2, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, Empires & Allies, Words with Friends, Hanging with Friends and Scramble with Friends.
Pincus was named 2009 “CEO of the Year” at The Crunchies technology awards and a year later was named Founder of the Year at the 2010 ceremony. Zynga is considered to be the pioneer of the social gaming industry, which is expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2015. Within four years after Pincus founded Zynga, the company had grown to a $1 billion company.
Early life and background
Pincus was born into a Jewish family in Chicago and raised in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. He is the son of Donna (née Forman) and Theodore Pincus. His father was a business columnist and public relations adviser to CEOs and politicians and his mother was an architect. He has two sisters: Laura Pincus Hartman and Susan Pincus Sherman. His father later married Sherri (née Barr, of Milwaukee) and his mother later married Sheldon Meyers, of Chicago; and he now has 18 additional step-sisters and one step-brother, Anne Zitron Casey, Jennifer Zitron Suomi, Annie Meyers Ashe and David Meyers.
Pincus attended Francis W. Parker School from kindergarten through 12th grade and graduated in 1984. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.[18] where he founded the Communications Club with Sherry Coutu.
Summary
Mark Pincus | |
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Pincus in 2010
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Born | Mark Jonathan Pincus February 13, 1966 Chicago, Illinois |
Residence | San Francisco |
Nationality | United States |
Alma mater | B.S. University of Pennsylvania M.B.A. Harvard University |
Occupation | CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Zynga (formerly Chief Product Officer) |
Net worth | US$1.1 billion (June 2015) |
Spouse(s) | Ali Gelb |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Donna Theodore Pincus |
worth of $1.8 billion as of September 2011, according to Forbes’ list of billionaires. The co-founder of Zynga, Internet’s most popular gaming site, named after his beloved late bulldog. In 2007, the Wharton and Harvard Business School grad founded the social media gaming company Zynga, . The Company is now worth billions of dollars. Zynga’s staggering success is tied to Facebook’s; its popular interactive games including FarmVille, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars, are played via the social network. Pincus serves as chief executive and owns an estimated 20% of the company. Its latest game, CityVille, attracts 20 million players per day.
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