Robin Li

Robin Li CNBC Next 25
Benjamin Wachenje

Title: Co-founder, chairman and CEO, Baidu

Born: November 17, 1968, Yangquan, Shanxi, China

Education: BS in information science, Peking University; MS in computer science, SUNY Buffalo

Early Marker: Worked for Dow Jones on software development for first online edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Big Idea: Patented early search-engine page ranking algorithm while working for Dow Jones. This algorithm, which Li turned into Baidu, China's dominant search engine, is said to have inspired Larry Page's Google.

Wave of the Future: Search, media

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