SAL KHAN

Worked as a hedge fund analyst at Wohl Capital Management after graduating from MIT and Harvard Business School. Started tutoring his cousin Nadia in math over Yahoo Doodle in 2004.

Uploaded the lessons to YouTube in 2006 — the videos went viral. By 2009, Khan Academy was getting millions of views.

Quit his hedge fund job in 2009 to work on Khan Academy full-time with no salary and his savings running out. Bill Gates discovered Khan Academy and publicly praised it — called it "the future of education" and donated $1.5 million through the Gates Foundation.

Google donated $2 million. Khan Academy grew to 150 million registered users, 8,000+ videos, courses in 50+ languages.

Launched SAT prep that became the official free prep for the College Board. In 2023, launched Khanmigo — an AI tutor powered by GPT-4 — making Khan Academy one of the first major education platforms to integrate AI.

Received the Heinz Award, TED Prize, and numerous other recognitions.

Khan Academy (founder and CEO, 2008–present), Wohl Capital Management (former analyst)

Sal Khan doesn't invest in the traditional sense — he invests his time and talent into a nonprofit. His "investing style" is building a free product and funding it through philanthropy and grants.

But as an advisor and thought leader, he champions radical accessibility. His thesis: the best education tools should be free, AI should amplify teachers not replace them, and mastery-based learning is superior to the traditional lecture model.

Khan Academy itself. 150 million users, courses in 50+ languages, and the official SAT prep partner — all completely free.

The Khanmigo AI tutor launch in 2023 positioned Khan Academy at the front of AI-in-education, attracting partnerships with school districts nationwide. But the biggest win is harder to measure: millions of students in underserved countries getting access to a world-class education that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars.

Not monetizing earlier. Some critics argue that Khan Academy could have become a massive for-profit company (like Coursera or Duolingo) while still maintaining a free tier, generating billions in revenue that could fund even more educational initiatives.

By staying pure nonprofit, Khan Academy is perpetually dependent on donations and grants, which creates funding uncertainty. But Khan would argue this isn't a mistake — it's the whole point.

Education is a fundamental human right, not a product to be sold. "You can educate at scale for free if you're willing to think differently about the business model." Khan believes mastery-based learning — where students master each concept before moving on — is vastly superior to the traditional age-based grade system.

Thinks AI will be the best tutor most students ever have.

Married to Umaima Marvi (a physician). Has three children who attend regular schools — Khan has said he doesn't homeschool his kids with Khan Academy.

His mother raised him in a modest household in Louisiana. His cousin Nadia, whom he first tutored, became a doctor.

MIT (three degrees: BS in Mathematics, BS in Electrical Engineering, MS in Electrical Engineering), Harvard Business School (MBA). Born and raised in Metairie, Louisiana, by a single mother from Bangladesh.