Josh Silverman
{{Short description|American businessman (born 1969)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Josh Silverman
| image = Josh Silverman 2014 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Silverman in 2014
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|1|14}}
| education = {{unbulleted list|Brown University|Stanford University}}
| occupation = Entrepreneur
| title = CEO of Etsy
}}
Joshua Gordon Silverman (born January 14, 1969){{Cite web |last=Arlidge |first=John |date=October 13, 2019 |title=Interview: Etsy boss Josh Silverman has the craft to take on Amazon
|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/interview-etsy-boss-josh-silverman-has-the-craft-to-take-on-amazon-ggj8t7wmr |work=The Sunday Times}} is an American entrepreneur and technology executive who is chief executive officer of Etsy. He is known for co-founding the invitation website Evite and being CEO of Skype (2008–10) and shopping.com (2006–08).
Early life and education
Silverman grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended Community High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in public policy from Brown University in 1991, after which he spent two years working for New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.{{Cite news|last=Ellin|first=Abby|date=2009-09-26|title=Learning in Business by Following the Heart|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/jobs/27boss.html|access-date=2022-01-04|issn=0362-4331}} In 1995 he enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; he earned his MBA from Stanford in 1997.
Career
In November 1998, Silverman quit his job at ADAC Laboratories{{Cite web|last=Gimein|first=Mark|date=1999-09-22|title=Cool rules|url=https://www.salon.com/1999/09/22/evite/|access-date=2022-01-04|website=Salon|language=en}} to work full time on building what would become Evite.{{Cite web|last=Canabou|first=Christine|date=2000-04-30|title=Josh Silverman|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/62622/josh-silverman|access-date=2022-01-04|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}} Evite was acquired by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in 2001. In 2006, Silverman became CEO of Shopping.com, a comparison-shopping engine owned by eBay.{{Cite web|date=2006-07-07|title=President of EBay's PayPal Quits, Triggering Anxiety|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-07-fi-ebay7-story.html|access-date=2022-01-04|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} In February 2008, he was named CEO of Skype.{{Cite web|date=2008-02-26|title=EBay names Shopping.com's Silverman to lead Skype|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/02/25/ebay-names-shopping-coms-silverman-to-lead-skype/|access-date=2022-01-04|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US}} He left Skype in 2010 to join Greylock Partners as an executive-in-residence, before moving on to an executive role at American Express.{{Cite web |last=Rubenfire |first=Adam |date=February 13, 2011 |title=Former Skype CEO stresses entrepreneurial leadership |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/former-skype-ceo-speaks-u-students/ |work=The Michigan Daily}}
Silverman joined the board of Etsy in November, 2016. After an activist investor took a stake in the company and called for it sale, Etsy's board ousted longtime CEO Chad Dickerson and installed Silverman as chief executive officer.{{Cite news|last=Gelles|first=David|date=2017-11-25|title=Inside the Revolution at Etsy|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/business/etsy-josh-silverman.html|access-date=2022-01-04|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|last=Safdar|first=Khadeeja|date=2017-05-02|title=Etsy Replaces Its CEO After Swinging to a Loss|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/etsy-replaces-its-ceo-after-swinging-to-a-loss-1493761030|access-date=2022-01-04|issn=0099-9660}}