Steven Todd Kirsch is an American serial entrepreneur who has started seven companies: Mouse Systems, Frame Technology Corporation, Infoseek, Propel, Abaca, OneID, and Token.
Background
Kirsch, Steven Todd was born on December 24, 1956 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Harold Kirsch and Harriet (Edelman) Karol. Bachelor of Science/S.M. Entertainment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1980.
Member technical staff Rolm Corporation, Santa Clara, California, 1981.
Education
He has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Career
Kirsch"s most recent venture, Token, focuses on faster, more secure worldwide payments. He invented and owns a patent on an early version of the optical mouse. In 2007, his personal fortune was estimated at $230 million, the majority earned from the IPO of Infoseek and the acquisition of Frame Technology.
He used part of his fortune to set up a $75M charitable fund and became an philanthropist.
On August 11, 2007, Kirsch announced on his personal Web site that he had been diagnosed with Waldenstrom"s macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer. His cancer is shrinking as a result of treatment using an experimental HDAC inhibitor, LBH-589.
The award celebrates those special individuals who, in transcending self, devote their lives in service to others, especially the disadvantaged, the poor, the disabled and the dying. In September 2011, he started OneID which is creating a user-centric Internet-scale digital identity system that uses public key cryptography to replace usernames and passwords with a single, stable, secure, digital identity that preserves privacy and is compatible with the NSTIC goals.
The technology is currently utilized by a number of non-profits, such as Salsa, to increase the frequency and security of online donations.