David Filo Net Worth

What is David Filo's Net Worth?

David Filo is a billionaire businessman and Internet entrepreneur who has a net worth of $3.2 billion. David Filo earned his fortune as the co-founder of the web services provider Yahoo!, along with Jerry Yang. One of the pioneering websites during the dot-com era in the 1990s,

While at Stanford, Filo teamed up with Jerry Yang, another Computer Engineer, to set up a web directory in order to share sites with their friends. That's how Yahoo! was created. At first, it was meant to help organize their findings and help other people find relevant sites. Yahoo! soon grew to include other Stanford alumni, together with Filo and Yang, to develop its software further. Eventually, Yahoo! became one of the most popular directories and search engines on the web. Today it has grown to provide consumers with numerous services aside from web search like online dating, shopping and website hosting.

Yahoo! eventually lost significant market share to Google and Facebook in the late 00s, but maintained its high profile due to many partnerships with telecommunications firms. In 2017, Verizon acquired Yahoo for $4.5 billion.

Along with his wife Angela, David Filo has been a major benefactor of Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, their alma maters.

Early Life and Education

David Filo was born on April 20, 1966 in Wisconsin and was raised in Moss Bluff, Louisiana. For his higher education, he attended Tulane University in New Orleans, graduating with his Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering. Filo then moved to California to attend graduate school at Stanford University, from which he obtained his Master of Science degree in 1990.

Yahoo!

While at Stanford, Filo met fellow electrical engineering graduate student Jerry Yang. In early 1994, the pair created a website called Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web, which consisted of a directory of other websites. A couple months later, the name of the website was changed to Yahoo!, and it became known as the Yahoo! Directory. In March of 1995, the site was incorporated, and soon a search engine function was introduced. Over the years, Yahoo! emerged as the first popular online directory and search engine. In the spring of 1996, it became a public company, and within two years its stock price rose 600%. The site also added a web portal, and made several high-profile acquisitions that boosted its user base and revenue. During the dot-com bubble at the dawn of the new millennium, the stock price of Yahoo! skyrocketed, closing at an all-time high of $118.75 a share. However, after the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, the company fell to $8.11 a share.

DIBYANGSHU SARKAR / AFP

Yahoo! developed its own search technologies in the early 00s, and in 2007 began offering unlimited email storage. However, it began facing stiff competition from Google and Facebook around that time, which significantly reduced its market share and drew away its users. In 2008, Yahoo! laid off hundreds of employees, and in 2012 announced around 2,000 layoffs. More layoffs occurred over the ensuing years, during which time Yahoo! suffered two major data breaches.

In 2017, Verizon Communications acquired the company for $4.7 billion. Four years later, investment funds managed by Apollo Global Management acquired 90% of Yahoo! In 2023, the company was among the many tech giants, including Google, Meta, and Amazon, to announce mass layoffs.

Personal Life and Philanthropy

Filo is married to Angela Buenning, a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. Together, they have one child, and reside in Palo Alto, California.

The Filos are active in philanthropy. In 2000, they founded the Yellow Chair Foundation, which supports education, the environment, and civil rights. The pair have also made substantial donations to their alma maters Stanford and Berkeley, particularly to the former's schools of sustainability and education and the latter's graduate school of journalism. Meanwhile, Filo has donated to his undergraduate alma mater, Tulane.