Chris Anderson (TED)
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Chris Anderson is the curator of the TED (Technology Entertainment Design) Conference, an influential annual conference. Anderson, who is British, was born in Pakistan in 1957.[1] His parents were medical missionaries and he spent most of his early life in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan before going to public school in England. In 1978 he graduated from Oxford University, with a 'First' in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
A brief career in journalism followed, including working for a pirate radio station in the Seychelles. In 1985, with meager personal funding (£10,000 is the official story [2]), he launched a publishing company devoted to hobbyist computer magazines. Future Publishing (based in Bath, UK) rapidly grew and in 1994 Anderson moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and continued to launch magazines including PC Gamer, MacAddict and Business 2.0, and websites such as the games portal IGN.com. Future grew to more than 130 magazines and more than 1500 employees. It floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1999 and at its peak had a market capitalization above $2 billion.
In 2001 Anderson left Future to work full time on TED which had been acquired that year by his private not-for-profit foundation.
Anderson lives and works in downtown New York.
