6 CEOs You Didnt Know Grew Up In Los Angeles

These are homegrown success stories.

When people make it big in the world of business, they become synonymous with the town in which they made their names. But their hometowns are the places that made them. Here are six successful CEOs you didn’t realize grew up in Los Angeles.

Evan Spiegel

From: Los Angeles, CA.

Company: Snapchat.

About: Spiegel was born in Los Angeles to two lawyers. He grew up in Pacific Palisades and attended Stanford University. However, he left Stanford early to focus on his startup—a little app called Snapchat. His classmates ridiculed the idea, but Spiegel believed in the idea and it paid off. Today, Spiegel is married to model Miranda Kerr.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Be94QRBAnFn/?hl=en&taken-by=mirandakerr

Sean Rad

From: Los Angeles, CA.

Company: Tinder.

About: Rad co-founded Tinder in 2012, along with Joe Munoz, Whitney Wolfe, Chris Gylczynski, Justin Mateen, and Jonathan Badeen. Rad has had his ups and downs, even with his own company. He served as CEO of Tinder until 2015, when he was pushed out of the job before returning to it six months later. He left the post again in late 2016 (but remains chairman) and was replaced by Greg Blatt.

https://www.instagram.com/p/kXw4njDbG7/?hl=en&taken-by=seanrad

Michael Heyward

From: Los Angeles, CA.

Company: Whisper.

About: Heyward is the CEO and co-founder of Whisper, the anonymous sharing app that launched in 2012. In an interview with CNN, Heyward said Whisper’s mission was “building a product and company on the foundation of empathy and authenticity.” He says LA is his favorite city—so it’s no wonder he based his startup in Venice Beach.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFpJJdTNMoY/?taken-by=michaelheywire

Richard Rosenblatt

From: Woodland Hills, CA.

Companies: CEO of TV Time; board member of Imagine Entertainment; former founder and CEO of Demand Media; chairman of MySpace and CEO of Intermix; founder and CEO of iMall.

About: Rosenblatt was born and raised in Southern California. In 1994, he co-founded his first company, iMall, where he served as head of internet media and web development. A decade later, in 2004, he became CEO of Intermix Media, where he was responsible for the explosive growth of MySpace. In 2006, he co-founded Demand Media, best known as the company behind eHow.

Gil Elbaz

From: Los Angeles, CA.

Company: Factual.com.

About: Elbaz is a Caltech grad who has been working in tech for years. In 1998, he co-founded a company called Oingo, Inc., which changed its name to Applied Semantics in 2001. In 2009, he launched Factual, an open data platform for application developers. In addition to his work as an entrepreneur, Elbaz is an avid philanthropist.

Justin Choi

From: Garden Grove, CA.

Companies: Founder and CEO: Nativo; Founder and Head of Product Strategy: Cie Digital Labs; Founder and CEO: Cie Games.

About: Choi is a serial entrepreneur who has founded not one, but three successful companies across different technology sectors. He currently serves as Founder and CEO of Nativo, the leading native advertising technology company. More than 400 of the world’s largest media companies and 400 top brand advertisers use Nativo to create, distribute, and measure brand content.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.