Google founder Larry Page, SpaceX/PayPal founder Elon Musk and
St. Louis CEO Jack Bader join trustees
The X PRIZE Foundation
has announced the election of three new members to its Board of
Trustees: Larry Page, co-founder and president of Google, Inc.;
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies
(SpaceX) and co-founder and CEO of PayPal; and Jack Bader, CEO of
NetEffects, Inc. and a St. Louis business leader.
The mission of the X PRIZE Foundation is to use competitions to
create breakthroughs in space and related technologies for the
benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE captured
world headlines when Mojave Aerospace, led by Burt Rutan and Paul
Allen, built and flew the world's first private spacecraft to the
edge of space to win the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE. Because of the
dramatic nature of the achievement, the X PRIZE Foundation is now
widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation
through the use of competitions.
“Larry Page, Elon Musk and Jack Bader bring creativity,
vision and business acumen to our X PRIZE Foundation Board, and I
enthusiastically welcome their participation and support,”
said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, founder and Chairman. “The aim
of the Foundation going forward will be to operate the annual X
PRIZE Cup in New Mexico, and to create and operate additional
incentive prizes to enable breakthroughs in space and related
technologies.”
Larry Page co-founded Google and today serves as the company's
president of products. He started Google with co-founder Sergey
Brin when both were Ph.D. students at Stanford studying computer
science. Google began operating in 1998 and today has offices
around the world and nearly 3,000 employees.
"The ANSARI X PRIZE team has challenged, motivated and
encouraged talented small teams to accomplish breakthroughs that
benefit humanity," said Page. "Burt Rutan and his team, challenged
by the X PRIZE, have accomplished an amazing feat. I am excited to
be working with the Foundation to foster additional
breakthroughs."
Elon Musk is founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies
(SpaceX), an orbital rocket company he created in 2002 to improve
the cost and reliability of access to space by a factor of ten.
Previously, Mr. Musk co-founded PayPal, the world's leading
electronic payment system, which was sold to eBay in 2002, and
Zip2, which was sold to Compaq in 1999.
Stated Elon Musk: “The X PRIZE Foundation is important for
driving forward the cause of human space exploration by creating
competition driven incentives. I believe it is a good forum
for stimulating and nurturing new ideas and look forward to working
with the Foundation to make that happen.”
Jack Bader, a member of the X PRIZE New Spirit of St. Louis
Committee, is a long-time St. Louis entrepreneur. He is President
of NetEffects, Inc. an information technology firm he founded in
1995. Working with Fortune 500 firms throughout the United
States and various foreign countries NetEffects provides a variety
of niche consulting skills. With more than 250 employees, it is one
of the largest IT consulting firm in the St. Louis area.
“My life goal is to one day orbit the earth in
space,” said Bader. “My support of the X PRIZE
Foundation gives me that real hope and belief that I and many, many
others will soon be able to take that trip.”
Other members of the board of trustees of the X PRIZE Foundation
are Anousheh Ansari, Sponsor of the ANSARI X PRIZE; Dr. Peter H.
Diamandis, Chairman; Richard Garriott, Ron Henges, William
Holekamp, Kevin Kalkhoven, Byron Lichtenberg, Erik Lindbergh, Gregg
Maryniak, Diane Murphy, Adeo Ressi, Richard Sugden, Barry Thompson,
Dennis Tito, and Robert Weiss.
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