Ben Chestnut (born 1973/1974) is an American billionaire Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder (with

Dan Kurzius Dan Kurzius (born 1971/1972) is an American billionaire businessman, the co-founder and chief customer officer of Mailchimp. Early life Kurzius's father ran a bakery-deli in Albuquerque, New Mexico that was "eventually forced out of business by ...

) and former CEO of

Mailchimp Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform and email marketing service. "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 l ...

, 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 ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

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

Hephzibah, Georgia Hephzibah () is a city in southern Richmond County, Georgia, Richmond County, in the United States, U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is part of the Augusta metropolitan area. The population was 4,011 at the 2010 census. ''Hephzibah'' ...

. He studied physics at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and industrial design at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

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 owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' noted that Chestnut was now a billionaire.

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 owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also repo ...

'', 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