Wired magazine’s European edition’s list of the 100 most influential players in digital business includes two Irishmen: Autonomy’s Michael Lynch, who started his US$870m software business with a stg£10,000 loan and Paddy Cosgrave, founder of the successful Dublin Web Summit and F.ounders.
Facebook EMEA vice-president Joanna Shields topped the list this year.
Listed at No 37, Michael Lynch (aged 43) grew Autonomy with a stg£10,000 loan from his parents. It is now one of the most influential software companies on the planet, worth US$7bn.
His listing reads: “Lynch’s modest goal is to revolutionise the computer industry. With a software company still growing and another big acquisition planned, Lynch delivered revenues of US$870m in 2010. His company has a market capitalisation of US$7bn.”
Listed at No 67, Paddy Cosgrave in just two years has created some of the most influential tech get-togethers in the form of the Dublin Web Summit and the F.ounders event, which last year featured Michael Birch of Bebo, Chad Hurley of YouTube and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey.
His listing reads: “Cosgrave knows how to throw a conference – putting Ireland at the heart of the European tech conversation with events such as the Dublin Web Summit and F.ounders. He has close links to London and advised Number 10 on UK digital startups.”
