Rich Barton
{{short description|American businessman}}
{{Other people|Richard Barton}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Richard Barton
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|June 2, 1967}}
| occupation = Co-executive chairman of Zillow Group
| known_for = Founder of Expedia, Founder of Zillow, Founder of Glassdoor
}}
Richard Barton (born June 2, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur who is the co-executive chairman and a former two-time chief executive officer of Zillow Group, a company he co-founded in 2006. Barton founded online travel company (and Microsoft spinoff) Expedia, Inc., real-estate internet company Zillow, and job search engine and career community Glassdoor. He also founded the online travel photography sharing website and app Trover, which was acquired by Expedia in 2016.{{cite web|last1=Nickelsburg|first1=Monica|title=Acquisition-hungry Expedia gobbles up Rich Barton's travel photography startup Trover|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2016/acquisition-hungry-expedia-gobbles-rich-bartons-travel-photography-startup-trover/|website=GeekWire|date=July 20, 2016|access-date=August 9, 2019}} Barton was also a venture partner at Benchmark,{{cite web|last1=Schaal|first1=Dennis|title=The Definitive Oral History of Online Travel|url=https://skift.com/history-of-online-travel/|website=Skift|access-date=August 9, 2019}} and is on the board of directors for Netflix, Avvo, Nextdoor,{{Cite web|date=2011-10-26|title=Nextdoor launches. Includes Rich Barton of Zillow on board of directors.|url=https://www.vendoralley.com/2011/10/26/nextdoor-launches-includes-rich-barton-of-zillow-on-board-of-directors/|access-date=2021-11-04|website=Vendor Alley|language=en}} and Artsy. He serves on the Stanford University Board of Trustees. {{Cite web|url=https://boardoftrustees.stanford.edu/board-members/|title=Board Members|access-date=2022-09-18|website=Stanford University Board of Trustees}}
In 2002, he was named as one of the top 10 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review.{{cite web |url=http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?trid=230 |title=Innovator Under 35: Richard Barton, 34 |author= |year=2002 |work=MIT Technology Review Magazine |publisher=MIT Technology Review, Cambridge, MA |access-date=January 5, 2013}} In April 2012, he was named to Barack Obama's Presidential Ambassadors for Continental Entrepreneurship.{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/04/10/announcing-president-obama-s-new-ambassadors-global-entrepreneurship |last=Pritzker|first=Penny|title=Announcing President Obama's New Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship |date=April 10, 2014|via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov |access-date=August 9, 2019}}
Early life
Barton, raised in New Canaan, Connecticut, is the son of a teacher and mechanical engineer.{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Taylor Nicole |title=Zillow CEO Rich Barton reportedly just became a billionaire. Meet the serial entrepreneur who also founded Expedia and Glassdoor. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/zillow-expedia-glassdoor-billionaire-rich-barton-life-career-net-worth |website=Business Insider |access-date=7 May 2021}} He graduated from Stanford University in 1989 with a degree in engineering. He first worked for Alliance Consulting Group, and in 1991, began working for Microsoft as product manager for MS-DOS 5.0.{{cite journal|last=Eng|first=Dinah|title=The King of Travel and Real Estate|journal=Fortune|date=January 14, 2013|volume=167|issue=1|pages=21–24}}
Barton's forefathers, John Barton and his son Horace, were inducted into the 1999 South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.sdtennishall.com/bartons.htm|title=John and Horace Barton Bio|website=South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame|access-date=October 29, 2017}}{{cite web|last=Harger|first=Jim|url=https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2013/10/the_man_behind_expedia_zillow.html|title=The man behind Expedia, Zillow and GlassDoor connects with his West Michigan roots|website=MLive|date=October 21, 2013|access-date=October 29, 2017}}
Entrepreneurship
Barton founded Expedia within Microsoft in 1994.{{cite news|last=Lerman|first=Rachel|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/a-talk-with-zillows-co-founder-and-ceo-on-its-10th-year/|title=A talk with Zillow's co-founder and CEO on its 10th year|date=February 7, 2016|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=October 29, 2017}} In 1994, Microsoft was planning to build a travel guidebook on a CD-ROM. Barton, who was familiar with text-based internet services of the time, had come across an online service hosted on Prodigy designed for travel agents working from home. He pitched the idea of an online travel booking service to Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Nathan Myhrvold. Gates, Ballmer, and Myhrvold gave Barton permission to move forward with the project, which debuted on the web as Expedia in 1996. Barton served as CEO through Expedia's initial public offering in 1999, and stayed in the position until 2003, after the company was acquired for $3.6 billion.{{Cite magazine|last=Copeland|first=Michael V.|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/06/rich-barton-empowers-people-and-picks-fights-very-profitably/|title=The Man Who Escaped Microsoft and Took a Whole Company With Him|date=2013-06-10|magazine=Wired|access-date=2020-04-15|issn=1059-1028}}
After a year-long break in Italy from the business community, Barton returned to Seattle in 2004, and began working toward the launch of Zillow with Lloyd Frink, another Expedia and Microsoft alumnus. Barton and Frink did not reveal much about the company prior to its launch.{{cite news|last1=Cook|first1=John|title=Former Expedia top exec is back|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Former-Expedia-top-exec-is-back-1160789.php|work=The Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=November 29, 2004|access-date=August 9, 2019}}
In February 2020, Barton became a billionaire according to Forbes,{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2020/02/20/zillow-founder-rich-barton-is-a-billionaire-one-year-after-taking-back-the-company/|title=Zillow Founder Rich Barton Is A Billionaire One Year After Taking Back The Company|last=Sharf|first=Samantha|website=Forbes|language=en|date=February 20, 2020|access-date=2020-04-15}} after reporting strong earnings at Zillow.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/zillow-expedia-glassdoor-billionaire-rich-barton-life-career-net-worth|title=Zillow CEO Rich Barton reportedly just became a billionaire. Meet the serial entrepreneur who also founded Expedia and Glassdoor.|last=Rogers|first=Taylor Nicole|website=Business Insider|date=February 27, 2020|access-date=2020-04-15}} He was CEO of the company from its founding until 2010, returned to the position in 2019, and transitioned to the role of co-executive chairman in August 2024.{{Cite news |last=Groover |first=Heidi |date=August 7, 2024 |title=Seattle-based Zillow names new CEO |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/zillow-names-new-ceo/ |work=The Seattle Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808042229/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/zillow-names-new-ceo/ |archive-date=August 8, 2024 |url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Rich}}
Category:American computer businesspeople
Category:American technology chief executives
Category:Businesspeople from Connecticut
Category:People from New Canaan, Connecticut
Category:Stanford University School of Engineering alumni
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:Stanford University trustees
{{US-business-bio-1960s-stub}}