Chris Anderson was born in Pakistan in 1957 to parents who were medical missionaries. He spent his early years traveling with them across Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan, gaining exposure to diverse cultures and global issues from a young age. Eventually, Anderson returned to England, where he attended Monkton Combe School, a boarding school in Bath.
He later enrolled at the University of Oxford, initially studying physics before shifting his focus to philosophy, politics, and economics. He graduated in 1978 with a degree in philosophy.
After graduating from Oxford, Anderson began his career in journalism. He worked for a local newspaper and later produced a world news service for two years while based in the Seychelles Islands. His experiences in journalism deepened his global perspective and honed his skills in communication and storytelling.
Captivated by the personal computer revolution in the early 1980s, Anderson became an editor at one of the UK's early computer magazines in 1984. Shortly afterward, he borrowed $25,000 to launch his own company, Future Publishing. Initially focused on niche computer publications, the company quickly expanded into other areas including cycling, music, video games, technology, and design.
Under Anderson’s leadership, Future Publishing doubled in size annually for the first seven years. In 1994, Anderson moved to the United States to establish Imagine Media, which went on to launch IGN, a popular video game website. Eventually, Future Publishing and Imagine Media were merged to form Future US, which became a public company in 1999.
The success of his publishing ventures enabled Anderson to establish his first nonprofit organization, the Sapling Foundation. The foundation aimed to address global challenges through media, technology, entrepreneurship, and ideas. In 2001, Sapling acquired TED, a conference originally focused on Technology, Entertainment, and Design, held annually in Monterey, California and accessible only by invitation.
Anderson saw an opportunity for TED to become much more than a private intellectual forum. According to The New York Times, he envisioned TED as something that could "change minds and maybe the world," a goal that led to what he called "radical openness"—a move to make TED accessible to the public.
Under Anderson’s leadership, TED evolved dramatically. The conference expanded to multiple events held in over 150 countries, broadening its topics to include science, business, global issues, and the arts. He introduced the TED Fellows program, which now includes around 300 alumni worldwide, and launched the TED Prize—awarding $1 million and "one wish to change the world" to recipients with passionate global visions.
| Net Worth 2021: | 14 million |
