23 Facts About Wael Ghonim

Wael Ghonim is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship.

In 2015, Wael Ghonim co-founded Parlio, a social media platform that was acquired by Quora in March 2016.

Wael Ghonim is currently a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Wael Ghonim was born to a middle-class family on 23 December 1980 in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Wael Ghonim earned a BS in computer engineering from Cairo University in 2004 and an MBA, with honors, in marketing and finance from the American University in Cairo in 2008.

Between 2002 and 2005, Wael Ghonim was the Marketing and Sales Manager of Gawab.

Wael Ghonim joined Google Middle East and North Africa as its Regional Marketing Manager in 2008 based in Google Egypt.

In January 2010, Wael Ghonim became Head of Marketing of Google Middle East and North Africa based in Google's United Arab Emirates office in Dubai Internet City in Dubai.

In 2014, Wael Ghonim joined Google Ventures as an Entrepreneur in Residence before resigning in December to work at a start-up company.

In 2010, Wael Ghonim founded a Facebook page titled, "We Are All Khaled Said," in support of Khaled Said, a young Egyptian who was tortured to death by police in Alexandria.

Wael Ghonim anonymously collaborated with activists on the ground to announce the locations for the protest.

In January 2011, Wael Ghonim persuaded Google to allow him to return to Egypt, citing "personal issues".

Wael Ghonim's family told Al-Arabiya and other international media that he was missing.

On 5 February 2011, Mostafa Alnagar, a major Egyptian opposition figure, reported that Wael Ghonim was alive and detained by the authorities and to be released "within hours".

On 6 February 2011, Amnesty International demanded that the Egyptian authorities disclose where Wael Ghonim was and to release him.

Wael Ghonim made an appearance on 60 Minutes, sitting down with Harry Smith.

In 2012 following a book deal he signed, Wael Ghonim decided to donate its proceeds, worth US$2.5 million, to charity work in Egypt.

Wael Ghonim founded Tahrir Academy, a nonprofit online collaborative learning platform, aiming to transform young Egyptians' characters.

Wael Ghonim currently serves as the chairperson of the foundation.

Wael Ghonim topped Time magazine's yearly list of the world's 100 most influential people.

Wael Ghonim was ranked the second most powerful Arab in Arabian Business's annual Power 500 of the world's most influential Arabs.

Shortly before the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Wael Ghonim presented a deal to the Egyptian people in which Mubarak could have remained in CAIRO with an "honorary status".

Wael Ghonim has been criticized for failing to remedy doubts about the genesis of the "We are all Khalid Said" Facebook page, which is believed to have had at least one more initiator.