Andrew Mason born 1980 is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Groupon,a Chicago-based website offering users discounts on local businesses.A site you have all more than likely heard about or used before.
Andrew grew up in an American Jewish family in Mount Lebanon,Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.He graduated from Mt Lebanon High School in 1999 and started a Saturday morning delivery service called "Bagel Express" when he was aged 15.
After graduating from Northwestern University in 2003 with a degree in music, Mason worked in web design for Chicago entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky.
Mason stopped working with Lefkofsky to attend the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy after he was awarded a scholarship. However, he dropped out of his master's degree program several months after it started. Mason also interned and worked at prominent Chicago recording studio,Electrical Audio, under recording engineer Steve Albini, whom Mason cited as an inspiration on his subsequent work ethic.
On December 1, 2010, The New York Time reported that Groupon was the subject of a $6 billion acquisition bid from Google, which Groupon turned down.
Mason's salary in 2010 was $180,000; "at his own recommendation" it was reduced to $756.72 effective January 1, 2011, according to the company's SEC filings. Also in 2011 he sold $10 million worth of Groupon stock before the company went public in November of that year and he continued to own 46 million shares.
On September 19, 2012, Groupon made a big move into the business of mobile payments, launching "Groupon Payments".
On December 18, 2012, Mason was named "Worst CEO of the Year" by Herb Greenberg of CNBC. Greenberg wrote, in part, "Mason's goofball antics, which can come off more like a big kid than company leader, almost make a mockery of corporate leadership – especially for a company with a market value of more than $3 billion. It would be excusable, even endearing, if the company were doing well (think Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlibes) but it's not. Sales growth is through the floor...".
Mason was dismissed as Groupon's CEO on February 28, 2013, the day after the company missed analysts' expectations for sales, and fell far short of the mark when it came to profit.In a letter to Groupon employees on the day of his dismissal, he wrote in part:
Andrew Now just 36 years old is worth an estimated $900 million due to the sites huge success. Founded in 2008 Groupon has been steadily increasing it’s traffic and it’s income for the grateful founder. The aim of the website is to offer out daily deals to people all over the world via an online coupon service. Each and everyday Groupon releases new “Groupons” to its customers allowing them to receive discounts on anything from subway meals to laptops and much more. Andrew was given $1 million dollars by his previous employer in order to start this venture which has now made them both a lot of money in the 2 short years it has been up and running.
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