Philip Berber is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born American technology entrepreneur, now engaged in philanthropy, international aid,

social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

and impact investing. He sold CyBerCorp, his online brokerage for day traders, to Charles Schwab for $488m in 2000. He and his wife Donna then formed and funded A Glimmer of Hope, pledging $100 million of Schwab stock to endow the foundation. He is currently engaged with philanthropy in Austin - by way of Glimmer, Austin- supporting local innovate early-stage non profits and social ventures. Philip is also engaged with Berber Family Investments and BerberFam, their Family Office, and serves on the Glimmer Board.

Early life

Berber was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

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in 1958. He attended Wesley College, Dublin and went to

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

and studied Commerce (B Comm). He moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1979 and met his wife Donna a few years later. They moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas in 1991, and to Austin in 1995 where they live with their three sons.

Business recognition

Berber won the Entrepreneur of the Year award for Central Texas in 2000 and was a national finalist the same year. University College Dublin awarded him with the Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2009, and that year Wall Street Journal described Berber as the “real star at the Clinton Global Initiative”.

Giving

Berber is Chairman and co founder of A Glimmer of Hope, a family foundation and international NGO, formed and funded by Berber and his wife Donna in 2000. BusinessWeek listed the Berbers at #40 amongst “the 50 most generous philanthropists” in 2002. Barron’s ranked the Berbers as sixth in the world on the list of “The 25 Best Givers" in 2009 and 7th in 2010. The Berbers and Glimmer were featured in the book Richistan.

Ventures

In 2011, Berber was involved at the early stages of Circuit of the Americas (COTA), which brought Formula One back to the US.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berber, Philip 1958 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Businesspeople from County Dublin People educated at Wesley College, Dublin