Eric Yuan

Yuan is the son of mining engineers. He was born and raised in Tai'an, Shandong Province, China.[3][4] In 4th grade, Yuan collected construction scraps to recycle copper for cash.[3]

As a first-year university student in 1987, he was inspired to develop videotelephony software while he took 10-hour train rides to visit his girlfriend and was looking for an easier way to "visit" her.[5][4] He earned a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Shandong University of Science and Technology, and a master's degree in mining engineering from China University of Mining and Technology. Yuan attended a Stanford University executive program, earning an MBA from the school in 2006.[3][6]

Yuan worked in Japan four years after graduation. Inspired by Bill Gates who spoke in Japan in 1994, he moved to Silicon Valley in 1997 to join the tech boom.[5] At the time, Yuan spoke very little English, and applied nine times before being granted a visa to the United States.[4][7]

Upon arriving in the US, Yuan joined WebEx, a videoconferencing startup.[3] The company was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007; at which time he became vice president of engineering.[4] In 2011, Yuan pitched a new smartphone-friendly video conferencing system to Cisco management.[8] When the idea was rejected, Yuan left Cisco to establish his own company, Zoom Video Communications.[4]

In 2019, Zoom became a public company via an initial public offering, at which time Yuan became a billionaire.[3][1]

Yuan married at age 22, while he was a master's student at China University of Mining and Technology.[3] They have three children and live in Santa Clara, California.[1]