Ben Chestnut (born 1973/1974) is an American Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder (with Dan Kurzius) and former CEO of

Mailchimp Mailchimp is a marketing automation and email marketing platform. "Mailchimp" is the trade name of its operator, Rocket Science Group, an American company founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Mark Armstrong, with Dan Kurzius joining at a later ...

, an

email marketing Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It involves using email to s ...

company. As of November 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$4.1 billion.

Early life

Ben Chestnut was born and raised in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

Atlanta Biz Journals.
/ref> and attended high school in

Hephzibah, Georgia Hephzibah () is a city in southern Richmond County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Augusta metropolitan area as well as the Central Savannah River Area. The population was 4,011 at the 2010 census, and 3,830 in 2020. ''Hephzibah ...

. He studied physics at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

and industrial design at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

Career

He is the co-founder and former CEO of Rocket Science Group, commonly known as

a CRM with 15 million users. In 2016, he was recognized as Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year. According to Atlanta Business Chronicle, in August 2017, Chestnut was awarded "Most Admired CEO". In October 2018, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' noted that Chestnut was a

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

. In August 2022, Chestnut abruptly stepped down as CEO one month after sending a nearly 1,400-word email to a small group of employees identifying what he considered an alarming trend in his workforce: new hires introducing themselves in virtual meetings with their preferred pronouns.

Compensatory policies

Chestnut has focused his company's resources in providing compensatory benefits for employees. Chestnut's motivation for his corporate policy stems from his being raised by his military father who had few economic opportunities.

Risks of social media

In an interview with ''

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

'', Chestnut countered arguments that social media would replace the need for email and email marketing.

Personal life

Chestnut is married, with two children, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chestnut, Ben American computer businesspeople American technology chief executives American technology company founders Georgia Tech alumni American people of Thai descent Living people People from Augusta, Georgia University of Georgia alumni American billionaires 1970s births Year of birth missing (living people)