Kevin O'Connor

Kevin O'Connor, who wrestled for Detroit Catholic Central High School, co-founded his first technology start-up in 1983 at the age of 21. After graduating from University of Michigan with a degree in electrical engineering, he helped start a software firm in Atlanta called Intercomputer Communications Corp. (ICC). Annual revenues for ICC reached $35 million by 1992.

Tech firm DCA acquired ICC in 1992, and O'Connor became DCA's chief technology officer and vice president of research until 1995, when he had a brilliant idea. O'Connor saw that traditional advertisers lacked technical expertise and would be eager to outsource the messy business of delivering ads to Web sites, and calculating who saw them. O'Connor quit DCA, and started DoubleClick in an Atlanta basement in 1996, along with chief technology officer Dwight Merriman. He eventually moved the company to New York and recruited media industry maven Wenda Harris Millard as executive vice president. By the time the company went public in February 1998, O'Connor had been named by Forbes ASAP as one of technology's "Wealthiest 100." The stock's price doubled within a month of its IPO (Initial Public Offering).

While DoubleClick remains to be the leading advertising network on the Internet, the company has recently expanded to include: DoubleClick Local, the first Internet advertising solution developed for regional and local businesses; DoubleClick International, which allows advertisers to reach a global market in 21 countries; and DoubleClick Boomerang, a one-to-one targeting solution that allows advertisers to re-market to customers. With online advertising expected to grow from $1.3 billion in the U.S. in 1998 to $10.5 billion in 2003, DoubleClick's momentum shows no sign of slowing down.