Niklas Zennström (; born 16 February 1966) is a Swedish entrepreneur and technology investor. Zennström is also the co-founder of the charity organization Zennström Philanthropies.

Education

Zennström has dual degrees in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

( BSc) from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

and

Engineering Physics Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...

( MSc) from the

. He spent his final year at

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, US.

Career

Zennström started his professional career in 1991 at the European telecom operator

Tele2 Tele2 AB is a Swedish telecommunications operator headquartered in the Kista Science City, Stockholm, Sweden. It is a major telephone operator in Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Tele2 also has a 25% share in T-Mobile Netherland ...

. He went on to serve in various business development roles including launching and being responsible for European Internet Service Provider business get2net and as CEO of the everyday.com portal. In 2000, Zennström and

Janus Friis Janus Friis (; born 26 June 1976) is a Danish entrepreneur best known for co-founding the file-sharing application Kazaa, and the peer-to-peer telephony application Skype. In September 2005, he and his business partner Niklas Zennström sol ...

co-founded Kazaa, the

peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program t ...

application. Niklas served as CEO and the program became the world's most downloaded Internet software in 2003. After lawsuits were filed by members of the music and motion picture industry in the US, Kazaa was sold to Sharman Networks. Zennström then founded and served as CEO at Joltid, a software company developing and marketing peer-to-peer solutions and traffic optimization technologies. Zennström also co-founded Altnet, the world's first secure peer-to-peer network promoting commercial content to consumers integrating promotion, distribution, and payment of digital content. Zennström is best known for founding

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debi ...

, a telephony company based on peer-to-peer principles. In October 2005, Skype was acquired by

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

for €2.1 billion ($2.6 billion) plus the potential to earn further performance-based bonuses up to €1.2bn. Zennström was CEO from Skype's inception until September 2007. . After the sale of Skype, Zennström went on in 2007 to launch

Joost Joost () was an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). During 2007–2008 Joost used peer-to-peer TV ( P2PTV) technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; i ...

, an online video distribution service. In 2009, Zennström was part of the investment consortium that bought

Skype Technologies Skype Technologies S.A.R.L (also known as Skype Software S.A.R.L, Skype Communications S.A.R.L, Skype Inc., and Skype Limited) is a Luxembourgish telecommunications company headquartered in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, whose chief business is th ...

from eBay and re-joined the Skype board. Currently, Zennström runs

Atomico Atomico is a European Venture Capital firm headquartered in London, with offices in Paris, and Stockholm. Its founder and CEO is Niklas Zennström, a entrepreneurship, serial entrepreneur who co-founded Skype and Kazaa. History and investments ...

. Based in London, the firm primarily invests in fast growing tech companies with the ability to transform their respective industries. Through

they have invested in over 50 companies on four continents, including

Supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms ( ...

, Rovio,

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

, Fon,

Rdio Rdio (pronounced "r-dee-oh") was an online music streaming service that offered ad-supported free streaming and ad-free subscription streaming services in 85 countries. It was available as a website and via app for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, an ...

, Fab,

Klarna Klarna Bank AB, commonly referred to as Klarna, is a Swedish fintech company that provides online financial services such as payments for online storefronts and direct payments along with post-purchase payments. The company has more than 4,0 ...

, and

. In May 2011, Skype was purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion. It is reported that Zennström and Friis made approximately $1bn between them from the sale. In November 2014, Zennström was inducted into SUP46's Swedish Startup Hall of Fame. Zennström is president of the European Tech Alliance (EUTA), a group of tech companies located around in Europe. The EUTA focusses and promotes on Europe's tech industry.

Philanthropy

Together with his wife Catherine, he founded Zennström Philanthropies which funds and donates to causes such as climate change and social entrepreneurship.

Honors and awards

Zennström was recognized by Time Magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential People in 2006, and has received numerous other awards for innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2006, he was voted Entrepreneur of the Year in the European Business Leaders Awards (EBLA). In October 2009, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, awarded Zennström the KTH Great Prize "for his outstanding entrepreneurial and technological skills". In September 2011, Zennström received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute. In February 2013, Zennström was awarded

H. M. The King's Medal H. M. ( His Majesty) The King's Medal ( sv, H.M. Konungens medalj), earlier known as the Court Medal ( sv, Hovmedaljen), is a Swedish honour that may be bestowed upon Swedish and foreign citizens. The medal was created in 1814 and is awarded in di ...

of 12th size with a bright blue ribbon for significant contributions to Swedish industry and society. In October 2013, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, IVA, awarded Zennström the gold medal for his "highly successful entrepreneurial achievements, creative innovation, high technical competence and outstanding leadership".

Personal life

Zennström is married to Catherine Zennström. He is a keen yachtsman and he has built and raced yachts in the

TP 52 The Transpac 52 (TP52) is a class of yacht used for competitive 52 Super Series yacht racing, and the Audi MedCup previously, besides the world championship of the class. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation which enti ...

References

External links

Atomico Ventures

Zennström Philanthropies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zennstrom, Niklas 1966 births Living people Swedish billionaires Skype people Swedish technology company founders Swedish chief executives Swedish chairpersons of corporations Venture capitalists Businesspeople in software Swedish company founders University of Michigan alumni