25 Facts About Yossi Vardi

Joseph "Yossi" Vardi is an Israeli entrepreneur and investor.

Yossi Vardi is known for his involvement in the early development of Israel's high-tech sector and the Israeli internet industry.

Yossi Vardi has been involved in the founding and development of over 85 high-tech companies across various fields, including software, energy, internet, mobile, electro-optics, and water technology, over a span of more than 47 years.

Yossi Vardi studied at the Technion in Haifa, graduating with a B Sc.

Yossi Vardi went on to earn an M Sc in Operations Research and a D Sc.

Yossi Vardi is married to Talma and the father of Arik, Oded, and Dani.

Yossi Vardi was appointed as the Director of the Investment Authority in North America and Consul for Economic Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York.

Yossi Vardi chaired the Israel National Oil Company, and was a member of the board of Oil Refineries Ltd.

Yossi Vardi co-founded Alon oil, International Laser Technologies, Granite Hacarmel and other companies.

Yossi Vardi is a co-holder of a patent on instant messaging on telephones.

In recent years Yossi Vardi is active in fostering a culture of innovation and creativity in Israel and abroad.

Yossi Vardi chaired a number of government-appointed commissions and committees, among them the Public Commission for the Regulation of the Electricity Sector, the Public Commission on Raising Venture Capital in the Stock Exchange and others.

Yossi Vardi served on the Advisory Council of the Bank of Israel, and israel Securities Authority, and on the board of directors of the Development Corporation for Israel.

Yossi Vardi serves on the board of governors of the Technion.

Yossi Vardi was the chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation, was member of the council and the executive committee of the Open University of Israel and the board of trustees of the Hebrew University and Weizmann Institute.

Yossi Vardi participated in the multi-lateral talks with the Palestinians, and served on the Israeli delegation to the Wye Plantation talks with the Syrians.

In 2013, Yossi Vardi was one of a group of Israeli and Palestinian business figures who launched Breaking the Impasse, a forum in favor of advancing a diplomatic solution.

Yossi Vardi acted as an advisor to the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program on issues of energy policy and strategy in the developing world.

Yossi Vardi is a member of the World Economic Forum, serves as an advisor on Middle-Eastern economic affairs to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Yossi Vardi serves on the advisory board of Blackberry Ventures, and served on the Research Visionary Board of Motorola, and on the advisory board of 3i, was advisor to the CEOs of AOL, Amazon.

Yossi Vardi was selected by Wall Street Journal Europe for "Tech's Top 25", and won the TechCrunch Europe 2009 "Best investor personality" award.

Yossi Vardi received an Honorary Doctorate from the Technion and from Ben Gurion University, Honorary Fellowship from the Open University, twice received the Prime Minister Award for life achievements in the high tech area; the Industry Award, for his contribution to the development Israel's industry; the 1998 entrepreneur of the year, the 2010 Excellence in Global Entrepreneurship and Management Award, and the Hugo Ramniceanu prize for Economics, all from Tel Aviv University.

Yossi Vardi received the Heim Herzog prize for unique contribution to the state of Israel from the Hebrew University and the President Herzog Foundation.

Yossi Vardi received the CEO's Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame from the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization, and a Certificate of Merit for the pioneering of the software industry and Information Technology from the Israel Chamber of System Analysts, as well as the Innovation Leadership Medal from the European Alliance for Innovation.

Yossi Vardi was nominated as one of The Most Influential International Executives by The Industry Standard, cited by Haaretz newspaper as one of the 50 "persons of the decade" for the first decade of the 2000s, was elected by Israel 21c to the top 10 icons of Israeli high tech - the pioneers, by The Algemeiner for the "Jewish 100 - the top 100 people positively influenced Jewish life" and by Wired magazine as number 9 of the Wired 2014 top 100.