Bill Gross, the founder and chairman of Idealab, is a lifelong entrepreneur who has started more than 175 groundbreaking companies in the last 50 years. More than 50 of those companies have had successful IPOs or acquisitions. Those companies have also created more than 10,000 jobs and have raised more than $4 Billion.

Among Bill’s transformative changes is the invention of the business model that powers most of the monetization of the internet. Bill invented the “paid click” or CPC (cost-per-click) bidded-keyword model with the company GoTo/Overture, which he founded in 1998. After a successful IPO and becoming the global market leader in paid search, the company was acquired by Yahoo in 2003. Today, Bill’s pioneering idea is used by Google and millions of websites around the world and remains one of his most significantly impactful inventions.

Bill’s dream is to make a positive impact on the world’s most pressing problems with technological and entrepreneurial innovation and helping them spread globally. He is currently focused on climate mitigation technologies and artificial intelligence. Bill has authored more than 100 patents in search, solar, robotics, energy and AI.

In addition to serving as Idealab’s board chairman, Bill is a member of the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Caltech, and leads the Technology Transfer and Innovation Committee. Bill also serves on the Board of Trustees of the ArtCenter College of Design.