Eric Yuan
Chinese-American founder and CEO of Zoom
- Age
- 56 yrs
- Birthday in 107 days
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Eric Yuan is a Chinese-American engineer who founded Zoom in 2011 after years at WebEx and Cisco. Zoom’s easy video meetings made it a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic, when daily meeting participants jumped from about 10 million to 300 million.
Biography
Background
Yuan studied applied mathematics and computer science in Shandong. Inspired by a talk by Bill Gates, he applied repeatedly for a US visa and was rejected eight times before succeeding in 1997.
WebEx and Cisco
He joined WebEx as an early engineer and became vice-president of engineering after Cisco bought it in 2007.
Zoom
When Cisco declined his plan for a new mobile-friendly video service, he left in 2011 and founded Zoom. It went public in 2019.
Pandemic
In 2020 Zoom became essential for schools, offices and families. Yuan apologised for early security and privacy problems and added end-to-end encryption.
Timeline
-
1970
Born in Tai’an, Shandong, China
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1997
Moves to the US; joins WebEx
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2007
Cisco buys WebEx
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2011
Founds Zoom
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2013
Zoom launches
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2019
Zoom IPO
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2020
Usage soars during the pandemic
Did you know?
-
1
He first imagined video calls while making long train journeys to visit his girlfriend.
-
2
Glassdoor ranked him among the top CEOs in 2018.
-
3
Zoom became a verb during the pandemic.
Connections
Also born on 20 February
Frequently asked
Who is Eric Yuan?
Eric Yuan is a Chinese-American engineer who founded Zoom in 2011 after years at WebEx and Cisco. Zoom’s easy video meetings made it a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic, when daily meeting participants jumped from about 10 million to 300 million.
How old is Eric Yuan?
Eric Yuan is 56 years old, born on 20 February 1970 in Tai’an, Shandong, China.
Where is Eric Yuan from?
Eric Yuan was born in Tai’an, Shandong, China.
What is Eric Yuan known for?
Eric Yuan is best known for Founding Zoom (2011); WebEx engineering; video calls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- Eric Yuan — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Eric Yuan (Q44870909) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Eric Yuan”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Eric Yuan.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/eric-yuan
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