Philip Rosedale

American entrepreneur (born 1968)

Philip Rosedale

Rosedale in 2021

Born|  (1968-09-29) September 29, 1968 (age 56)[1]

San Diego, California, United States

Alma mater| University of California, San Diego
Occupation| CEO at High Fidelity, Inc.
Known for| Founder of Linden Lab and High Fidelity, Inc.

Philip Rosedale (born September 29, 1968) is an American entrepreneur who founded Linden Lab, which develops and hosts the virtual world Second Life.

## Biography

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### Early life

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Rosedale was born in San Diego, California, in 1968.[1] He took an interest in computers, technology, and virtual reality from an early age.[1] He started his own company selling database systems to small businesses at 17 and used the proceeds to fund his college education[citation needed], ultimately earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and computer science from the University of California, San Diego.[1]

### Career

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In 1995, Rosedale created an Internet video conferencing product (called "FreeVue"), which was later acquired by RealNetworks, where (in 1996) he went on to become vice president and chief technology officer.[2][3] A year later Rosedale left RealNetworks and founded Linden Lab, named after a street in Hayes Valley (a neighborhood in San Francisco). With the creation of Second Life, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of creating an Internet-scale virtual world.[2] In 2006, he and Linden Lab received WIRED's Rave Award for Innovation in Business.[4][5] On March 14, 2008, Rosedale announced he would be stepping down as the CEO of Linden Lab and assuming the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors.[6]

Rosedale had stated that his goal with Second Life was to demonstrate a viable model for a virtual economy or virtual society. In his own words: "We don't see this as a game. We see it as a platform that is, in many ways, better than the real world" (Google TechTalks, March 2006).[7]

In 2007, Philip Rosedale was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.[8]

In 2008, Linden Lab's Second Life was one of three products to win a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award in the category of "User Generated Content – Game Modification".[9]

In October 2009, Rosedale announced that he would be less involved in the development of Second Life, because he was focusing on a new project.[10] The announced project turned out to be a company named LoveMachine Inc, founded with Ryan Downe.[11]

Scenery from Second Life in 2012

In June 2010, he announced that he was back to the office as CEO of Linden Lab.[12] However, in October 2010, Rosedale announced he was leaving his position as interim CEO.[13]

In November 2011, Rosedale released a new project named Coffee and Power,[14] a site that Rosedale calls a "meta-company", that enables people to connect for small jobs and services.[15] On April 16, 2013, Coffee & Power posted to their company blog that they were going to stop work on Workclub, their mobile application and begin work on a new company named High Fidelity Inc.[16]

In January 2022, High Fidelity acquired an interest in Linden Research and Philip Rosedale rejoined to Second Life as a strategic advisor.[17]

## Personal life

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Philip Rosedale is married to Yvette Forte Rosedale. He lives in San Francisco, and has four children.[18]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Manthorpe, Rowland (October 24, 2016). "Remember Second Life? Now it's being reborn in virtual reality". WIRED. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
2. ^ a b "Management". Linden Lab. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010.
3. ^ "FreeVue Telecommunications Network". freevue.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 1996.
4. ^ "The Other Fed Chief". WIRED. June 1, 2006. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
5. ^ Kohler, Chris (February 27, 2007). "Second Life, Now With Voice". WIRED. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
6. ^ Pasick, Adam (March 14, 2008). "Second Life founder Rosedale to step down as CEO". Reuters. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
7. ^ "Glimpse inside a metaverse: the virtual world of Second Life". Readable. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
8. ^ Vega, Suzanne (May 14, 2007). "The Time 100: Philip Rosedale". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on May 5, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
9. ^ "Winners Of 59th Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards Announced By National Television Academy At Consumer Electronics Show". Emmy Online. January 8, 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
10. ^ "Next Chapter!". Philip Rosedale. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
11. ^ "Philip Rosedale Unveils New Company: "LoveMachine Inc" Offers AI, Destruction of the Ego, Lots of Money-Making". New World Notes. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
12. ^ Rao, Leena (June 24, 2010). "Amidst Turmoil, Linden Lab's CEO Steps Down". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
13. ^ Hoge, Patrick (October 20, 2010). "Interim Linden Lab CEO steps down". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
14. ^ Hardy, Quentin (November 6, 2011). "Bit by Bit, Work Exchange Site Aims to Get Jobs Done". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
15. ^ "Coffee & Power: Work For Each Other, Not The Man". Read Write Web. November 2011. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
16. ^ "Update Coffee & Power and Workclub". Coffee & Power Blog. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
17. ^ "Press Releases". lindenlab.com. Linden Research, Inc. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
18. ^ Cox, Hugo (February 22, 2017). "Virtual reality pioneer Philip Rosedale (and his avatar)". Financial Times. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

## External links

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Wikiquote has quotations related to Philip Rosedale.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philip Rosedale.

* High Fidelity

Authority control databases

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* ISNI
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* France
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Academics|

* Association for Computing Machinery
* DBLP

Other|

* IdRef