Chris Hughes

Chris Hughes
Born Christopher Hughes
(1983-11-26) November 26, 1983
Hickory, North Carolina, U.S.
Alma mater Harvard University
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known for Co-founder of Facebook
Net worth US$450 million[1] (2017)
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)
Sean Eldridge (m. 2012)

Christopher Hughes (born November 26, 1983)[2] is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook, with Harvard roommates Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Andrew McCollum. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of The New Republic from 2012 to 2016. Hughes is now a co-chair of the Economic Security Project. In 2018, Hughes published Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn.[3]

Early life and education

Hughes grew up in Hickory, North Carolina,[4] as the only child of Arlen "Ray" Hughes, an industrial paper salesman, and Brenda Hughes, a mathematics teacher.[5] He was raised as an evangelical Lutheran.[6] He is a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and Harvard College.[5]

Career

Facebook

During his freshman year at Harvard in 2002, Hughes met and was recruited by Zuckerberg, who at the time was still working in the early stages of Facebook. For the next two years, Hughes was unofficially responsible for beta testing and product suggestions. When the group had the idea to open Facebook to other schools, Hughes argued that schools should have their own networks to maintain the intimacy feel. He was also a key driver in developing many of Facebook’s popular features, which led to the opening of Facebook to the outside world.[7] As a result of that, Hughes became the de facto Facebook spokesperson.[8]

In 2004, Hughes, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz traveled to Palo Alto during their summer break. After the summer break, while Zuckerberg and Moskovitz decided to remain in Palo Alto, Hughes decided to return to Harvard to continue his studies.[9]

In 2006, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in history and literature.[10] He then relocated to Palo Alto to rejoin Zuckerberg and Moskovitz and became involved in Facebook again.

After Facebook

In 2007, Hughes left Facebook to volunteer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[11]

In March 2009, Hughes was named Entrepreneur in Residence at General Catalyst, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, venture-capital firm.[12]

He was the executive director of Jumo, a non-profit social network organization which he founded in 2010, which "aims to help people find ways to help the world".[13][14] In July 2010, UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) appointed him to a 17-member "High Level Commission" of renowned politicians, business leaders, human rights activists, and scientists tasked with spearheading a "social and political action campaign over the coming year aimed at galvanizing support for effective HIV prevention programmes."[15]

The New Republic

In March 2012, Hughes purchased a majority stake in The New Republic magazine. He became the publisher and executive chairman, and also served as editor-in-chief of the magazine.[16] In December 2014, shortly after the magazine's centennial celebration, editor Franklin Foer and literary editor Leon Wieseltier were "driven out" and dozens of other staff and contributing editors resigned after a new chief executive, Guy Vidra, a former Yahoo! employee, described the new direction of the magazine as a "vertically integrated digital media company."[17] The magazine was forced to cancel its upcoming issue due to the staff departures.[17]

The magazine was not profitable during Hughes' tenure.[18] On January 11, 2016, Hughes put The New Republic up for sale, saying he had "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."[18] Hughes' ownership of The New Republic was described by The New York Times as a "vanity project."[19] He sold the magazine on February 26 to Oregon publisher Win McCormack.[20]

Personal life

Hughes is married to Sean Eldridge, political director of Freedom to Marry.[21] Hughes and Eldridge announced their engagement in January 2011 at a reception in support of Freedom to Marry. They married on June 30, 2012.[22] The couple bought a $2 million residence in New York's 19th congressional district with the reported purpose of permitting Eldridge to run for the congressional seat there.[23]

Eldridge lost his 2014 bid for a congressional seat by 30 points. Following that and the mass resignation from The New Republic, The Daily Beast dubbed the two "America's Worst Gay Power Couple."[24]

References

  1. ↑ John McQuaid. "Chris Hughes". Forbes.
  2. ↑ "Chris Hughes profile". CrunchBase.
  3. ↑ "Book review". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Stelter, Brian (July 7, 2008). "The Facebooker Who Friended Obama". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 McGirt, Ellen (April 1, 2009). "How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign". Fast Company.
  6. ↑ Holson, Laura M. (May 4, 2012). "Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge Are the New Power Brokers". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ "How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign". Fast Company. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  8. ↑ Solomon, Brian. "Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes Marries Longtime Boyfriend". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  9. ↑ McGirt, Ellen (2009-04-01). "How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook And The Barack Obama Campaign". Fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  10. ↑ "Facebook Founders Bios". Facebook.
  11. ↑ "My Barack Obama". Obama for America.
  12. ↑ Schonfeld, Erick (March 17, 2009). "After Facebook And The Obama Campaign, Chris Hughes Takes a Post At General Catalyst". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  13. ↑ McGirt, Ellen (March 18, 2010). "Facebook Chris Hughes's Jumo.com". Fast Company.
  14. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (November 30, 2010). "A Facebook Founder Begins a Social Network Focused on Charities". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ "Top world personalities join UNAIDS' High Level Commission to bring about a prevention revolution". UNAIDS TODAY. July 21, 2010.
  16. ↑ "New Republic Gets an Owner Steeped in New Media". The New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  17. 1 2 Mahler, Jonathan; Somaiya, Ravi (2014-12-07). "Revolt at the New New Republic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  18. 1 2 Somaiya, Ravi (2016-01-11). "The New Republic Is for Sale Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  19. ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (2016-01-11). "When Restless Billionaires Trip on Their Toys". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  20. ↑ Byers, Dylan. "The New Republic Is Sold by Facebook Co-founder Chris Hughes". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  21. ↑ "A Place at the State Dinner Table". The Advocate. November 24, 2009.
  22. ↑ "Forty Under 40". The Advocate. May 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-04-13.
  23. ↑ "Young, Rich and Relocating Yet Again in Hunt for Political Office". The New York Times. 11 July 2013.
  24. ↑ Kirchick, James (8 December 2014). "The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America's Worst Gay Power Couple". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 15 December 2014.

Further reading

Articles
  • DeWitt, Katie (July 21, 2004). "A Hot New Twist on the Old College Try". BusinessWeek.
  • Schatz, Amy (May 26, 2007). "BO, U R So Gr8 — How a Young Tech Entrepreneur Translated Barack Obama into the Idiom of Facebook". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  • Benderoff, Eric (September 23, 2007). "Social Sites Go Political — A Facebook Founder Helps Design Obama's Online Network, and Other Candidates Are Doing What They Can To Add 'Friends'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2011. and photo gallery
  • "The Class of 2009: Chris Hughes". Out. 2009.
  • "The New Republic names Guy Vidra, General Manager of Yahoo News, as Chief Executive Officer". The New Republic. September 17, 2014.
  • Barr, Jeremy (September 17, 2014). "Chris Hughes steps down as editor of The New Republic, names Vidra C.E.O." Capital New York.
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