Naveen’s Humble Beginnings
Intelius co-founder and chief executive officer Naveen Jain was among many others who had come to America in search of greener pastures. Born and raised in India, he came to America with nothing but hard work and the drive for excellence that helped him succeed. He was eventually able to put up two companies that have contributed greatly to the Internet industry. Starting out in America with nothing but ambition and talent, Naveen Jain is now part of the upper echelons of society as manifested by his inclusion in Forbes’ America’s Richest 400 in 2000.
Jain was born on September 6, 1959 in Uttar Pradesh, a province in the northern part of India with a population of over 190 million people and a literacy rate of 57.37%. Through his civil engineer father’s influence, Jain acquired an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee and obtained an MBA from XLRI School of Management in Jamshedpur.
Naveen Jain grabbed the opportunity to go to the US by joining a business exchange program. In 1989, he became part of Bill Gates’ team at Microsoft Corporation. As project manager, he helped develop the OS/2 platform as well as the flagship service Microsoft Network (more commonly known as MSN).
After a few years of employment at Microsoft, he resigned in order to launch his own company called InfoSpace in 1996. InfoSpace is a content provider for major Internet properties.
In 2003, with hopes of expanding his entrepreneurial successes, Naveen Jain formed a new company that he called Intelius. The new company operates as an online public information provider. With a record-breaking growth of 1566.27%, Intelius has become one of the fastest growing companies in North America according to Deloitte & Touche.
With his current status, Naveen Jain has indeed come a long way from his lifestyle in Uttar Pradesh. He now lives in the posh community of Medina, Washington with his wife and three children. As his success continues, Jain remains committed to the community through his support for various charity works.
