Kate Murphy (born May 7, 1985) is a co-founder and CEO of '' Play Magnus'', a company previously majority owned by former

World Chess Champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

and working to take chess to more people around the world with a focus on youth. '' Play Magnus'' was acquired by

Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...

in 2022. Murphy launched Play Magnus in 2013 with Magnus Chess As (a company owned by

and chaired by his father, Henrik Carlsen), his manager

Espen Agdestein Espen Agdestein (born 7 February 1965) is the former manager of former Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen (until 2021). He is the brother of chess grandmaster and former coach of Magnus Carlsen, Simen Agdestein, and is himself a FIDE master, ...

and the chairman and first

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...

, Anders Brandt. Play Magnus aims to engage young people through digital products to engage their brains on their mobile device, using chess as a primary tool. She has said, "Magnus' brand is much more than just chess. It's about his brain. Smart is the new sexy. Men like

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...

and

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

changes the way the world works. Their brains are brilliant, Magnus has the same traits". Murphy was raised in

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024, and one of th ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. She attended

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

. After graduation, she co-founded iDance Convention, a national dance convention in Canada, where she acted as director from 2008. She continued her studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she received an MBA in 2011 and moved to

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway.

References

External links

* 1985 births 21st-century Canadian businesswomen 21st-century Canadian businesspeople Living people Canadian expatriates in Norway Norwegian women company founders Norwegian women business executives 21st-century Norwegian businesswomen 21st-century Norwegian businesspeople {{Canada-business-bio-stub