Nathan Myhrvold
Nathan Myhrvold, March 8, 2007
Born	(1959-08-03) August 3, 1959 (age 52) Seattle, Washington
Institutions	Intellectual Ventures, University of Cambridge, Microsoft Research
Alma mater	Princeton University, UCLA

Nathan Paul Myhrvold (born (1959-08-03)August 3, 1959), formerly Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, is co-founder of Intellectual Ventures. Myhrvold, usually with coinventors, holds 17 U.S. patents assigned to Microsoft^[1] and has applied for more than 500 patents.^[2] In addition, Myhrvold and coinventors hold 115 U.S. patents assigned mostly to The Invention Science Fund I, LLC.^[3]

Early life and education[link]

Myhrvold was born in Seattle, Washington. He attended Mirman School,^[4] and began college at age 14.^[5] He studied mathematics, geophysics, and space physics at UCLA (BSc, Masters). He was awarded a Hertz Foundation Fellowship for graduate study and he chose to study at Princeton University, where he earned a master's degree in mathematical economics and completed a PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics by age 23.^[6] He also attended Santa Monica College. For one year, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge working under Stephen Hawking, studying cosmology, quantum field theory in curved space time, and quantum theories of gravitation.

Career[link]

Early Career[link]

Myhrvold left Cambridge to co-found a computer startup in Oakland, California. The company, Dynamical Systems Research Inc., sought to produce Mondrian, a clone of IBM's TopView multitasking environment for DOS. Microsoft purchased DSR in 1986.

Myhrvold worked at Microsoft for 13 years. At Microsoft he founded Microsoft Research in 1991.^[7]

Patent Trolling[link]

After Microsoft, in 2000 Myhrvold co-founded Intellectual Ventures,^[8] a patent portfolio developer and broker in the areas of technology and energy, which has acquired over 30,000 patents^[9] and whose business practices have caused some controversy, being described by some as a patent troll company.^[10]

Nuclear Power[link]

TerraPower, a subsidiary of Intellectual Ventures, aims to develop a nuclear reactor that is "safe and cheap" as part of Bill Gates' strategy to reach the goal of zero carbon emissions globally by 2050.^[11] Gates unveiled this plan at the TED 2010. The plant will run on natural or depleted uranium with the potential for 100 years without refuelling.

Hobbies and pursuits[link]

Myhrvold is a prize-winning nature and wildlife photographer.^[12]

Science[link]

He is also involved with paleontological research on expeditions with the Museum of the Rockies. His work has appeared in scientific journals including Science^[13], Nature^[14], Paleobiology^[15] (With Philip J. Currie), PLoS ONE^[16] and the Physical Review^[17], as well as Fortune, Time, Scientific American^[18], National Geographic Traveler and Slate. He and Peter Rinearson helped Bill Gates write The Road Ahead, a book about the future that reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 1995 and 1996. Myhrvold has contributed $1 million to the nonprofit SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA, for the development of the Allen Telescope Array, planned to be the world's most powerful radio telescope.

After the Science Museum in London successfully built the computing section of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine #2 in 1991, Myhrvold funded the construction of the output section, which performs both printing and stereotyping of calculated results. He also commissioned the construction of a second complete Difference Engine #2 for himself, which has been on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California since May 10, 2008.^[19][20][21]

Cooking[link]

In addition to his business and scientific interests, he is a master French chef who has been a member of the first and second place team in the world championship of barbecue in Memphis, Tennessee. An early culinary learning experience took place when he was allowed to act as an observer and apprentice at Rover's, one of Seattle's leading restaurants, with Chef Thierry Rautureau.^[22] Myhrvold is the principal author of the culinary masterpiece entitled Modernist Cuisine, released in March 2011, on the application of scientific research principles and new techniques and technology to cooking.^[23]

Advocacy[link]

On December 20, 2009, Myhrvold appeared on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and discussed his patented idea to eliminate global warming/climate change using geoengineering. It involves using hoses suspended from helium balloons 25 kilometers (16 mi) above the Earth. The hoses would be placed near the North Pole and the South Pole and emit sulfur dioxide, which is known to scatter light. Myhrvold estimated that such a configuration could "easily dim the sun by one percent, and even do it in a way that wouldn't be visible."^[24]

Affiliations and awards[link]

Myhrvold is also a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Advisory Board^[25]

In 2010, he was named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top 100 global thinkers.^[26]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Auletta, Ken, "The Highwaymen", Harvest Books, 1998. ISBN 0-15-600573-5 — cf Chapter 17: The Microsoft Provocateur: Nathan Myhrvold, Bill Gates Corporate Gadfly.
• Edstrom, Jennifer and Eller, Marlin, "Barbarians Led by Bill Gates: Microsoft From The Inside: How The World's Richest Corporation Wields Its Power", Holt Paperbacks, 1999. ISBN 0-8050-5755-2

External links[link]

• Biography from Intellectual Ventures
• Who's afraid of Nathan Myhrvold?, Fortune, July 10, 2006
• In the Air: Who says big ideas are rare?, Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker, May 12, 2008
• The intellectual venturer, by Michael Watts 21.January 2011 Wired UK
• Microsoft’s Former CTO Takes On Modernist Cuisine, by Mark McClusky February 24, 2011 Wired.com
• TED talk (embedded video): Nathan Myhrvold: A life of fascinations
• "Inside Nathan Myhrvold's Mysterious New Idea Machine". BusinessWeek. July 3, 2006. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_27/b3991401.htm. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 

Nina Zagat, along with her husband Tim Zagat (Eugene Zagat) (b. 1940, New York City), (pronounced /zəˈɡæt/, rhymes with "the cat") are the co-founders and publishers of Zagat Restaurant Surveys, since 1982. They met in law school at Yale, and were both practicing attorneys when they founded Zagat Surveys.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

The Zagats got married during law school, graduated in 1966, and moved to New York where they became corporate lawyers.^[3] She was an associate with the Wall Street white shoe firm Shearman & Sterling^[4] and was most notable for her role in the administration of the Seward Johnson estate. Later they both got jobs in Paris, he at office of the Hughes Hubbard law firm and she at the Shearman & Sterling office. While there, they started compiling their own list of Parisian restaurants, of what they liked and didn’t like, and conceived the idea for a new type of restaurant ratings guide.

Hobby becomes a business[link]

When they returned to New York, they solicited the opinions of friends about New York restaurants, and the resulting compilation eventually became Zagat.^[2] The couple published their first guide in 1982. It was for New York City and it sold 7,500 copies in local bookstores.^[3] Two years later, it was selling at 40,000 copies per year and they quit their jobs as corporate lawyers to devote full-time to the enterprise.^[3]

Zagat Survey[link]

One reviewer described the methodology: "The philosophy behind the Zagat Survey is that instead of one lengthy critical review of a restaurant, the eating public is better served by a rating based on hundreds of responses. By tabulating the responses to detailed surveys, the Zagat Survey rates restaurants on a 30-point scale in the categories of food, décor, service and cost. It also provides price estimates and a pithy, paragraph-sized description."^[1]

The company expanded to include other cities and market segments such as hotels, stores and clubs; in early 2008, the couple tried to sell the company for $200 million, but then withdrew the sale when they could not find prospective buyers at that price.^[2] One reviewer wrote: "The Zagat Survey was once the sine qua non of restaurant guidebooks. Aside from a review in the paper, the survey's 30-point scale for food, service, and décor—and its quirky comments submitted by readers—was pretty much all that mattered to restaurateurs. While the book's ratings are still highly influential—and while the company remains highly profitable—the guide is no longer the indispensable possession it once was and it's clear that its influence has waned in recent years."^[3] The relative decline has been attributed to the company's "online strategy" which makes the guide only available to paying subscribers.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Zagat has been described as the "rumpled survey king" and has been criticized for "taking full advantage of his status at the top of the dining food chain, often stopping off sans reservation at the city's most popular restaurants, where, much to the chagrin of owners, he expects to be seated immediately and greeted personally by the chef."^[3]

The couple have two sons, Ted and John,^[1] and live on the Upper West Side.^[5] They have also reportedly named each other as their favorite New Yorkers.^[5]

Stabbing incident[link]

On November 15, 1990, Tim Zagat was sitting alone in the subterranean Loews movie theater at 61st and Broadway in New York City to watch the picture Dances With Wolves.^[6] Seated in the same row to his left, there was a deranged man who had been making loud obscene comments before the movie began. During the middle of the picture, the deranged man walked right, and for reasons unknown, began stabbing Zagat,^[6] but an anonymous moviegoer pulled the attacker off of Zagat. The attacker fled out a side exit but was apprehended by police a few days later. Zagat, bleeding from superficial wounds, was taken to Roosevelt Hospital, and survived.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Featuring Nina Zagat - Crain's 100 Most Influential Women in NYC Business" Crains
• Nina Zagat at the Internet Movie Database
• Tim Zagat at the Internet Movie Database
• Tim Zagat collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Tim Zagat collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Photo of Tim and Nina Zagat

Charlie Rose
Rose in May 2010
Born	Charles Peete Rose, Jr. (1942-01-05) January 5, 1942 (age 70) Henderson, North Carolina, U.S.
Education	Duke University B.A. (1964) Duke University J.D. (1968)
Occupation	Talk show host Journalist
Years active	1972–present
Notable credit(s)	Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes II, 60 Minutes, CBS News Nightwatch, CBS This Morning
Website
http://www.charlierose.com/

Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. (born January 5, 1942)^[1] is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993. He has also co-anchored CBS This Morning since January 2012. Rose, along with Lara Logan, has hosted the revived CBS classic Person to Person, a news program during which celebrities are interviewed in their homes, originally hosted from 1953 to 1961 by Edward R. Murrow.^[2]

Early life[link]

Rose was born in Henderson, North Carolina, the only child^[3] of Margaret Frazier and Charles Peete Rose, Sr., tobacco farmers who owned a country store.^[4][5] As a child, Rose lived above his parents' store in Henderson and helped out with the family business from age seven.^[6] Rose admitted in a Fresh Dialogues interview that as a child his insatiable curiosity was constantly getting him in trouble.^[7] A high school basketball star, Rose entered Duke University intending to pursue a degree with a pre-med track, but an internship in the office of Democratic North Carolina Senator B. Everett Jordan got him interested in politics.^[8] Rose graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in history. At Duke, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Duke University School of Law in 1968.^[6] He met his wife, Mary (née King), while attending Duke.^[3][4]

Career[link]

After his wife was hired by the BBC (in New York), Rose handled some assignments for the BBC on a freelance basis. In 1972, while continuing to work at Bankers Trust, he landed a job as a weekend reporter for WPIX-TV. His break came in 1974, after Bill Moyers hired Rose as managing editor for the PBS series Bill Moyers' International Report. In 1975, Moyers named Rose executive producer of Bill Moyers Journal. Rose soon began appearing on camera. "A Conversation with Jimmy Carter," one installment of Moyers's series U.S.A.: People and Politics, won a 1976 Peabody Award. Rose worked at several networks honing his interview skills until KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth hired him as program manager and gave him the late-night time slot that would become the Charlie Rose show.

Rose worked for CBS News (1984–1990) as the anchor of CBS News Nightwatch, the network's first late-night news broadcast. The Nightwatch broadcast of Rose's interview with Charles Manson won an Emmy Award in 1987.^[4] In 1990, Rose left CBS to serve as anchor of Personalities, a syndicated program produced by Fox Broadcasting Company, but he got out of his contract after six weeks because of the tabloid-style content of the show. Charlie Rose premiered on PBS station Thirteen/WNET on September 30, 1991, and has been nationally syndicated since January 1993. In 1994, Rose moved the show to a studio owned by Bloomberg Television, which allowed for improved satellite interviewing.^[9]

Rose was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II^[10] from its inception in January 1999 until its cancellation in September 2005, and was later named a correspondent on 60 Minutes.^[11]

Rose was a member of the board of directors of Citadel Broadcasting Corporation from 2003 to 2009.^[3] In May 2010, Charlie Rose delivered the commencement address at North Carolina State University.

On November 15, 2011, it was announced that Rose would return to CBS to help anchor CBS This Morning, replacing The Early Show, commencing January 9, 2012, along with co-anchors Erica Hill and Gayle King.

Cameo appearances[link]

Rose has appeared as himself in the 1998 film Primary Colors,^[12] in a 2000 episode of The Simpsons^[13] and in the 2008 movie Elegy.^[14] He and his show were also used in the Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums. He also appears as himself in the 2011 George Clooney directed film, The Ides of March.

[edit] Accusations of conflict of interest

While hosting the 2002 Coca-Cola Company shareholders' meeting, Rose said "few companies are able to connect as completely with consumers in the way that Coca-Cola is. It is a privilege to be associated with [The Coca-Cola family] ... This is the business of Coca-Cola: being part of a family, being worldwide, doing well and doing good at the same time."^[15] Afterward, Coca-Cola agreed to become what Rose called "a leading underwriter" of The Charlie Rose Show, paying "six or possibly seven figures."^[16] Even the Charlie Rose mugs used on his PBS show feature a Coca-Cola logo on one side.^[17][18] Although CBS News policy bars correspondents from doing commercials and product endorsements, the Washington Post reported CBS was "comfortable" with Rose's actions. Rose insists he "would never do a story on 60 Minutes II about anybody who underwrites my PBS show."^[16]

[edit] Quiet influence

The New York Times reported that Rose encouraged a discussion between the leaders of NBC and Fox, that led eventually to a mutual reduction in ad hominem attacks between Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly on their respective news programs.^[19]

Rose has attended several Bilderberg Group conference meetings, including meetings held in the United States in 2008;^[20] Spain in 2010;^[21] and Switzerland in 2011.^[22] These unofficial conferences hold guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are political leaders and businessmen. Details of meetings are closed off to the public and strictly invitation-only, and critics^[who?] speculate the controversial nature of these meetings of highly influential people. Accusations from conspiracy theorists against The Charlie Rose show claim that it has become the US media outlet for Bilderberg.^{[23][unreliable source?]}

Personal life[link]

Rose's twelve-year marriage to Mary Rose (née King) ended in divorce in 1980. Mary is the sister-in-law of Morgan Stanley Chairman John J. Mack. Since 1993, his companion has been socialite and chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the city department of planning Amanda Burden, a stepdaughter of CBS founder William S. Paley.^[24]

On March 29, 2006, after experiencing shortness of breath in Syria, Rose was flown to Paris and underwent surgery for mitral valve repair in the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital. His surgery was performed under the supervision of Alain F. Carpentier, a pioneer of the procedure.^[25] Rose returned to the air on June 12, 2006, with Bill Moyers and Yvette Vega (the show's executive producer), to discuss his surgery and recuperation.

In a 2009 Fresh Dialogues interview, Rose described his life as "great and glorious."^[7] He added, '"I get up every morning with a new adventure. The adventure is fueled by interesting people. I get a chance to control my own destiny. I do something that is immediately either appreciated or not. I get feedback."

Rose owns a 575-acre (2.33 km²) farm in Oxford, North Carolina, an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York City, a beach house in Bellport, New York, an apartment in Washington D.C.^[3] and an apartment in Paris, France.

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012)

• Charlie Rose Official website of his eponymous show
• Charlie Rose official channel on YouTube
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Charlie Rose at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Rose collected news and commentary at the Los Angeles Times
• Charlie Rose collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Charlie Rose at the Notable Names Database
• Charlie Rose shows on Hulu
• celebritynetworth.com, Celebrity Net Worth, Charlie Rose
• Why Business Loves Charlie Rose David A. Kaplan, Fortune, September 28, 2009