Michael Birch is a computer programmer and entrepreneur best known as the founder of Bebo; an online social networking website. Bebo was first launched in January 2005 with the help of his wife. In 2008, Birch and his wife sold Bebo to AOL for $850 million, yielding a $595 million profit for their 70% stake. Birch and his brother Paul founded BirthdayAlarm.com and also Ringo.com, which was later sold to tickle.com.
Bebo had more than 45 million registered users in 2007 and was ranked the sixth most popular website in the United Kingdom; surpassing Amazon, AOL and BBC. In 2010, AOL announced the sale of Bebo to Criterion Capital Partners and the sale was completed on June 17 of that year.
Birch was born on July 7, 1970 in Hertfordshire. He attended Imperial College London where he studied BSc in Physics and later went on to marry Xochi Birch. In 2008 Birch invested in MyStore and also joined as a board member. He is also an investor in Goodreads, a book-oriented social network. Birch and his wife reside in San Fransisco.
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