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To celebrate TED's 40th anniversary, Head of TED Chris Anderson and TED's founder Richard Saul Wurman reflect on the conference's transformative journey — from its inception as a daring experiment blending technology, entertainment and design to its expansion into a global platform for world-changing ideas.
- Format
- Early life and education
- Early career
- Later career
- Community
Chris Anderson is the Curator of TED, a nonprofit devoted to sharing valuable ideas, primarily through the medium of 'TED Talks' -- short talks that are offered free online to a global audience.
Chris was born in a remote village in Pakistan in 1957. He spent his early years in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where his parents worked as medical missionaries, and he attended an American school in the Himalayas for his early education. After boarding school in Bath, England, he went on to Oxford University, graduating in 1978 with a degree ...
Chris then trained as a journalist, working in newspapers and radio, including two years producing a world news service in the Seychelles Islands. Back in the UK in 1984, Chris was captivated by the personal computer revolution and became an editor at one of the UK's early computer magazines. A year later he founded Future Publishing with a $25,000...
This success allowed Chris to create a private nonprofit organization, the Sapling Foundation, with the hope of finding new ways to tackle tough global issues through media, technology, entrepreneurship and, most of all, ideas. In 2001, the foundation acquired the TED Conference, then an annual meeting of luminaries in the fields of Technology, Ent...
Continuing a strategy of 'radical openness,' in 2009 Chris introduced the TEDx initiative, allowing free licenses to local organizers who wished to organize their own TED-like events. More than 8,000 such events have been held, generating an archive of 60,000 TEDx talks. And three years later, the TED-Ed program was launched, offering free educatio...
In taking the conference nonprofit, Anderson stood by the principles that made TED great: the inspired format, the breadth of content, the commitment to seek out the most interesting people on Earth and let them communicate their passion.
In 2006, TED experimented with posting some of its talks on the Internet. Their viral success encouraged Anderson to develop the organization as a global media initiative devoted to "ideas worth spreading".
Mar 17, 2024 · This “radical generosity” strategy ultimately propelled TED to international popularity and solidified its brand as a leader in human thought and discussion. Chris shares his insights...
May 9, 2016 · Chris Anderson, a former journalist and entrepreneur, acquired TED through his nonprofit foundation in 2001 and has continually pushed the boundaries of the possible. He is currently musing over how to reach the 4 to 5 billion new Internet users expected to come online over the next several years.
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When Anderson’s company acquired TED in 2001, it was a struggling organization. He turned the nonprofit around and helped make it the international success that it is today. After watching hundreds of successful (and failed) talks, Anderson believes he knows the secrets to a spectacular speech.
