What is Steve Case's Net Worth?
Steve Case is an American entrepreneur, investor and businessman who has a net worth of $1 billion. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Steve Case began focusing on a career in marketing in the early 80s, working for such companies as Pizza Hut, Inc., Control Video Corporation, and Quantum Computer Services, which he also co-founded. In 1991, he changed the company's name to America Online, and chose to focus on creating community-based applications. His strategy paid off, and by 2002, AOL had 26.7 million subscribers. Steve helped orchestrate AOL's merger with Time Warner at the peak of the dotcom bubble, which would prove to be one of the most disastrous corporate mergers of all time. He served as AOL's CEO until 2003, when he stepped down in order to focus on his own series of initiatives funded by his company, Revolution, LLC. In addition to his work with Revolution, he is also chairman of the Case Foundation, and serves as the Chairman of the Startup America Partnership. He also has a seat on the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and frequently speaks on television about initiatives to increase startup growth and longevity in the US.
Early Life and Education
Steve Case was born on August 21, 1958 in Honolulu in what was then the Territory of Hawaii to Carol and Daniel. He has a brother named Jeff and a sister named Carin, and had another brother named Dan who passed away in 2002. Case was educated at the private Punahou School, from which he graduated in 1976. He went on to attend Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, graduating in 1980 with a degree in political science.
Career Beginnings
During the two years following his college graduation, Case worked as an assistant brand manager at the Procter & Gamble headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. After that, he worked as a manager of new pizza marketing at the original Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas. In 1983, Case was introduced by his brother Dan to Control Video Corporation CEO Bill von Meister, and was hired as a marketing consultant. Eventually, he became a full-time marketing employee.
Quantum Computer Services
Following the dissolution of Control Video Corporation, employee Jim Kimsey founded the online service company Quantum Computer Services. He became the CEO and hired Case as vice president of marketing. In 1987, Case was promoted to executive vice president. During his time at Quantum in the 80s, Case partnered with Marc Seriff to create the online service Quantum Link for the Commodore 64 home computer. A few years after that, the company began offering the PC Link online service for IBM computers and the AppleLink online service for Apple machines. Case also heavily promoted online interactive games and activities, including "Habitat," "Club Caribe," and "Quantum Space."
AOL
In 1991, Quantum Computer Services changed its name to America Online, or AOL, and merged its PC and Apple services under the new name. That year, Case took over from Kimsey as the CEO of the company. By 1994, AOL had amassed one million subscribers. The service became a pioneer in the advent of social media due to its emphasis on chat rooms, forums, and instant messaging. This helped drive its success in its early years, with its user-base growing to ten million by the end of the 90s and peaking at 26.7 million in 2002.
Not everything at AOL was a success. In 2001, Case and Gerald M. Levin orchestrated a merger with media conglomerate Time Warner that ended up being a debacle on account of the dot-com bubble burst and various accounting scandals. Case ultimately resigned as chairman of AOL in early 2003, but remained on the board of directors for about three years after that. The epic failure of the AOL Time Warner merger became the subject of Nina Munk's 2005 book "Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner."
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Revolution
Following his resignation from AOL, Case co-founded the venture capital firm Revolution with Donn Davis and Tige Savage. Based in Washington, DC, the company's goal is to fund entrepreneurs who are working to transform legacy industries outside of the main coastal tech hubs in the US. Revolution operates three major investment funds: Revolution Ventures, which focuses on early-stage technology companies; Revolution Growth, which focuses on mid-range consumer technology businesses; and Revolution Places, which focuses on real estate and hospitality. Through these arms, the company has made investments in such notable companies as Zipcar, sweetgreen, DraftKings, Optoro, and RunKeeper, among many others.
Philanthropy and Advocacy
In his philanthropic work, Case is the chairman of the Case Foundation, which he co-founded with his wife Jean in 1997. The Foundation invests in individuals and nonprofits that seek to connect people and foster civic engagement. In 2011, Case became a Citizen Regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Among his other positions, he served as a co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Democracy Project. Case is also a prominent advocate for immigration reform, believing that immigrants are critical to the health of America's entrepreneurial culture and economy.
Books
Case's first book was "The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future," which was published in 2016. A New York Times bestseller, it explores how innovations in technology are transforming the Internet and how we think about work. Case released his second book, "The Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream," in 2022.
Personal Life
In 1985, Case wed Joanne Barker, whom he had met in college. They had three children together before divorcing in 1996. Two years after that, Case married former AOL executive Jean Villanueva. The couple has two children.
Hawaiian Real Estate
Steve Case controls tens of thousands of acres in his home state of Hawaii, including a controlling interest in Maui Land & Pineapple Company. He also has a controlling interest in the historic agricultural site Grove Farm, which he acquired in a controversial transaction that resulted in years of litigation launched by the previous owners.
Merrywood Estate
In 2005 Steve paid $24.5 million for a property in McLean, Virginia known as Merrywood Estate. The 7-acre estate was the childhood home of Jacqueline Onassis, later known as Jackie Kennedy. The property features a 23,000 square-foot regal mansion that was built in 1919 overlooking the Potomac River. Here's a video tour:
In June 2017 Steve listed Merrywood for sale for $49.5 million. A year later, May 2018, Steve sold the property for $43 million.
