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Ruslan Kogan
BornNovember 1982(1982-11)(age41)[1]
Babruysk,Byelorussian SSR,Soviet Union[2][3]
NationalityAustralian
Education
Alma materMonash University
Known forFounder ofKogan
SpouseAnastasia Kogan
Websitewww.kogan.au/ruslan-kogan/

Ruslan Kogan(born November 1982[1][4]) is an Australian entrepreneur known as founder and CEO ofKogan,as well as several other ecommerce companies in Australia.[5][6][7]He was Australia's richest person under the age of 30 from 2011 to his 30th birthday in November 2012. In 2020, Kogan'snet worthwas estimated by theFinancial Review2020 Rich ListasA$575 million.[8][9]

Kogan holds several publicised controversial views regarding the consumer technology industry, expressing his opposition to the Australian Government's proposed internet filter[10][self-published source?]as well as lambasting the government for their handling of theSet Top BoxScheme.[11][self-published source?]He was also the only executive from a consumer electronics vendor in Australia to campaign against the introduction of 3DTV into homes around the world.[12][13]

He has written articles as both a guest and regular for several large media outlets, including a guest article forForbesgiving his views onFacebook,[14]a guest article forFast Companyabout the importance of social proof in business,[15]a guest article forVentureBeataboutaffiliate marketing,[16]a guest post onGizmodooutlining his opposition to the filter[17]andThe Ageregarding the future of TV.[18]He was also a guest columnist for business magazine BRW throughout 2011,[19]and has on several occasions provided guest opinions on the world's largest technology blog,TechCrunch.[20][21]In 2015, he was interviewed on theBloomberg TelevisionseriesHigh Flyers.[22]

Early life

[edit]

Ruslan Kogan was born to Belarusian-Jewish parents,[23][24]and moved with his sister Svetlana and parents toMelbourne,Victoria,Australia in 1989.[25]Kogan grew up in the Elsternwick Housing Commission flats, and started his first business at the age of ten by finding lost golf balls, cleaning them and selling them for $0.50/each[25]to golfers at Elsternwick Golf Course on Saturday mornings.[26]Kogan was interested in technology from an early age, building his first computer at the age of nine.[27]He has started approximately twenty businesses since the age of ten, with Kogan being his most recent and most successful venture.[28]

Kogan attendedBrighton Secondary CollegeandMelbourne High School[2]before graduating fromMonash Universitywith a Bachelor of Business Systems (Information Technology).[29]

Career

[edit]

By the age of 23, Kogan had worked at the IT departments of Bosch, GE, Telstra, and was a management consultant atAccenture,until 2006.[30][31]

Kogan

[edit]

Kogan startedKoganin his parents' Melbourne garage in 2006, aged 23 years.[32]The company rapidly expanded to a broader range of products such as Digital Radios, GPS devices, netbooks, tablets, and video cameras,[33][self-published source?]and in September 2011 began selling complementary products from a range of brands includingApple,Canon,Nikon,Samsung,Motorolaand others.[34]

Kogan achievedA$3 million in sales in its third year,[35]followed byA$8 million in year four,[36]A$22 million in year five,[37]A$70 million in year six,[38]and overA$200 million in the seventh year.[39]In 2013The Wall Street Journalspeculated that Kogan was worth overUS$400 million.[40]More than two million products were delivered by Kogan, with daily sales of more thanA$1 million.[41]

Having started with no external funding or capital, as of 2011, Kogan has grown to become one of Australia's fastest-growing businesses in any industry.[30][42][43][44]

Open source

[edit]

Kogan has been a strong believer inopen-sourcesolutions for many years, telling Computerworld: "We are huge believers in cloud computing and open-source software. The reasons are simple: open-source software is usually faster, better and has more features."[45]Kogan believes that open-source tablets likeAndroidpresent a significant challenge to the Apple iPad's dominance of the tablet market, and was the first to launch an open-source tablet in the UK for under £100.[46]In Australia, he launched a laptop running the open-source version of Google's ChromeOS before multinationals likeSamsungandAcercould launch their own products.[47]

Criticism

[edit]

Kogan is known for using social media to take a swipe at his competitors[48]and has been accused of making 'outlandish statements' through his company's blog about giant retailers like JB Hi-Fi.[49]At Kickstart Forum 2008, in Gold Coast Australia, Kogan was called a 'loudmouthed punk', when he said the future of retail was heading online.[50]On International Transgender Day of Visibility in 2018, Kogan was asked to apologise after a transphobic tweet referencing the2018 Australian ball-tampering scandalandCaitlyn Jenner.[51]

Personal life

[edit]

Kogan was the first Australian to register as a passenger onRichard Branson'sVirgin Galacticsub-orbital spaceflight, having paid a deposit on theUS$200,000 ticket.[52][53][54][55]

Kogan and his wife, Anastasia, reside in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Personal wealth

[edit]

Kogan'snet worthwas estimated to beA$575 million, listed on theFinancial Review2020 Rich List.[8]Kogan did not reach the threshold for inclusion on the2021 Rich List.[56]

Year Financial Review
Rich List 		Forbes
Australia's 50 Richest
Rank Net worth(A$) Rank Net worth(US$)
2009[57] $15 million[note a]
2010[58] $29 millionIncrease[note a]
2011[59] $62 millionIncrease[note a]
2012[60] $145 millionIncrease[note a]
2013[61] $315 millionIncrease[note a]
2014[62][63] 162Increase $349 millionIncrease[note a]
2015
2016
2017[64][65]
2018[66]
2019[67] n/a not listed
2020[8] 188Increase $575 millionIncrease
2021[56] n/a not listed
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

Achievement lists

[edit]

Kogan and his company Kogan have been listed on the following:

  • The AgeTop 100 most influential people in 2008[68]
  • BRW 2009 Fast Starters list at rank 37[69]
  • BRW 2010 Fast 100 at rank 15[70]
  • BRW 2010 Fast Starters list at rank 17[71][72]
  • Charter Security Retail Innovator of the Year 2010[73]
  • Anthill Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs for 2010[74]
  • The AgeTop 100 most influential people in 2011[75]
  • BRW 2011 Fast 100 at rank 27[42]
  • SmartCompany 2011 Hot 30 Under 30 in 2011[76]
  • Virgin AustraliaTop Guns in Tech in 2011[77]
  • BRW 2012 Fast 100 at rank 14, valued at A$75.2M[78]
  • Men's Style Magazine 2012 Men of Influence[79]
  • Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Southern Region Winner[80]
  • Deloitte Technology Fast 50 - 4th fastest growing technology company in Australia in 2012[81]
  • BRW Fast 100 2012 - Ranked 14[82]
  • Top 50 Most Influential People in Tech in 2012. He joinedMark ZuckerbergandMike Cannon-Brookesas the only Gen Ys on the list[83]
  • SmartCompany Hot 30 Under 30 CEOs in 2012[84]
  • The AustralianTop 5 Young Chief Executives in 2012[85]
  • T3 29th most influential person in the technology industry in 2012[86]

Notes

[edit]
  • ^a:Net worth drawn from theBRWYoung Rich List in that year.

References

[edit]
  1. ^abMurray, Jody (8 October 2011)."Ruslan Kogan, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Winner".Anthillonline.Retrieved1 September2012.
  2. ^ab"Meet The Founder: Ruslan Kogan"(PDF).Nicta. 30 March 2010.Retrieved6 December2012.
  3. ^"News Views: June's Big Issues"(PDF).The Banking & Finance Report.Retrieved6 December2012.
  4. ^"Ruslan Kogan".Smartcompany.au. 21 April 2010.Retrieved1 September2012.
  5. ^Bishop, Jen (12 March 2010)."Furniture entrepreneur grows online business".Dynamic Business Australia.Retrieved1 September2012.
  6. ^"Office Chairs - Buy Outdoor Wicker & Eames Chair Replica".Milan Direct.Australia. 6 August 2012.Retrieved1 September2012.
  7. ^"Designer Office Chairs - Buy Barcelona Chair & Eames Chair Replica".Milan Direct.United Kingdom. 6 August 2012.Retrieved1 September2012.
  8. ^abcBailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (30 October 2020)."The full list: Australia's wealthiest 200 revealed".The Australian Financial Review.Nine Publishing.Retrieved31 October2020.
  9. ^"Kogan storms back onto Rich List after record run".Australian Financial Review.12 June 2020.Retrieved12 June2020.
  10. ^"The Australian Government's proposed internet filter".Kogan.au. 1 April 2010.Retrieved1 September2012.
  11. ^"Government Set Top Box Scheme Blows Out".Kogan.au. 15 February 2012.Retrieved15 November2012.
  12. ^"3D TV offerings limited as manufacturers strike 'exclusives' with movie rights holders".The Courier-Mail.4 May 2010.Retrieved1 September2012.
  13. ^Singer, Melissa (19 April 2010)."3D television".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved1 September2012.
  14. ^"Dear Mark Zuckerberg, Here's How You Double Facebook's Share Price".Forbes.31 October 2012.Retrieved15 December2012.
  15. ^"The secret power behind why we pick busy restaurants over empty ones".Fast Company.29 August 2012.Retrieved15 October2013.
  16. ^"The big ugly affiliate marketing scam".VentureBeat.12 August 2013.Retrieved15 October2013.
  17. ^"Fight The Filter: Thoughts From Ruslan Kogan, CEO of Kogan Technologies".Gizmodo.Australia. 13 July 2010.Retrieved1 September2012.
  18. ^Kogan, Ruslan (9 December 2011)."Want more and better TV? Stay tuned, it's coming".The Age.Retrieved1 September2012.
  19. ^"Ruslan Kogan: The importance of persistence".BRW.23 November 2011.Retrieved1 September2012.
  20. ^Ruslan Kogan (9 April 2012)."Foxconn Bears The Brunt of Ivory Tower Assault on Capitalism".TechCrunch.Retrieved1 September2012.
  21. ^Kogan, Ruslan (4 March 2012)."Ruslan Kogan".TechCrunch.Retrieved1 September2012.
  22. ^"Kogan 's Ruslan Kogan: We Want Tech-Savvy People".High Flyers.24 July 2015.Retrieved7 August2015.
  23. ^Knight, Elizabeth (23 September 2011)."Online hulk Kogan gets on big retailers' nerves".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved1 September2012.
  24. ^"Why money doesn't matter to multimillionaire Ruslan Kogan".6 April 2018.
  25. ^abMunro, Peter (8 April 2012)."Only double or nothing will do".The Age.Retrieved1 September2012.
  26. ^"Friday Five: Ruslan Kogan".Delimiter.28 August 2012.Retrieved1 September2012.
  27. ^"Ruslan Kogan Keynote at Entrepenuer [sic] Unconvention - The Kogan startup story ".YouTube. 16 April 2011.Retrieved1 September2012.
  28. ^Brett, Lorna (30 September 2011)."Ruslan Kogan: young and hungry for success".Dynamic Business Australia.Retrieved1 September2012.
  29. ^"Classnotes, 2000s, Monash Magazine 2008".Monash University.28 May 2008.Retrieved1 September2012.
  30. ^ab"Interview: Ruslan Kogan on social media, entrepreneurship and how startups can succeed".My Business.1 August 2011.Retrieved1 September2012.
  31. ^"Entrepreneur cuts TV middle men - BizTech - Technology".The Sydney Morning Herald.26 March 2007.Retrieved1 September2012.
  32. ^Bishop, Jen (May 2010)."Kogan's Online Empire"(PDF).Dynamic Business Magazine.Retrieved6 December2012.
  33. ^"LED TVs, LCD TV Deals from the LED TV Specialists. Best value LED TV discounts in Australia from".Kogan. Archived fromthe originalon 5 November 2011.Retrieved1 September2012.
  34. ^Connelly, Claire (14 September 2011)."Kogan begins selling brand name products, claims to have cheapest iPads in Australia".Herald Sun.Retrieved6 December2012.
  35. ^"30 hot entrepreneurs aged 30 and under".Smart Company.30 November 1999. Archived fromthe originalon 12 December 2013.Retrieved12 December2013.
  36. ^"Ruslan Kogan Young rich and growing two businesses Fast".Dynamic Business.17 July 2010.Retrieved12 December2013.
  37. ^"The $62 million man who proved his mum wrong".The Sydney Morning Herald.19 March 2012.Retrieved12 December2013.
  38. ^"Ruslan Kogan Will Be Going To Maccas for a 4am 'Michelin Star' Meal This Saturday".Business Insider.13 June 2013.Retrieved12 December2013.
  39. ^"Top 500 companies".BRW. 12 August 2013.Retrieved12 December2013.
  40. ^"Kogan, Dick Smith Explore Options".The Wall Street Journal.11 September 2013.Retrieved15 October2013.
  41. ^"Kogan shake up for grabs to steer ambitious growth".The Australian Financial Review.11 September 2013.Retrieved15 October2013.
  42. ^ab"Ruslan Kogan"(PDF).BRW.27 October 2011.Retrieved1 November2011.
  43. ^"Ruslan Kogan"(PDF).BRW.28 October 2010.Retrieved1 November2011.
  44. ^"Fast 100"(PDF).BRW.27 October 2011.Retrieved6 December2012.
  45. ^Gedda, Rodney (13 August 2009),"Kogan drops 10-inch Linux netbook price to $399",Computer World,retrieved7 December2012
  46. ^Ruslan Kogan Talking Tech & Tablets on Bloomberg,YouTube, 1 June 2011,archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2021,retrieved7 December2012
  47. ^LeMay, Renai (3 June 2011),"Kogan launches early Chromebook",Delimiter,retrieved7 December2012
  48. ^Lindhe, Jane (27 September 2012),"Young clicks v old bricks",BRW,retrieved15 November2013
  49. ^LeMay, Renai (9 March 2011),"How seriously should we take Ruslan Kogan?",Delimiter,retrieved15 November2013
  50. ^LeMay, Renai (1 March 2011),"Aussie retailers are Apple's bitch, claims Kogan",Delimiter,retrieved15 November2013
  51. ^Wahlquist, Calla (1 April 2018)."Ruslan Kogan asked to apologise after tweeting transphobic joke".the Guardian.Retrieved20 May2018.
  52. ^Bhatt, Neerav (10 June 2010)."Future of the manned space flight".The Drum Opinion;ABC News.Australia.Retrieved1 September2012.
  53. ^KoganVideo."Virgin Galactic - Interview with Ruslan Kogan on Channel 7 News (9/12/09)".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2021.Retrieved1 September2012.
  54. ^KoganVideo."Virgin Galactic - Interview with Ruslan Kogan on Channel 9 News (9/12/09)".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2021.Retrieved1 September2012.
  55. ^"Virgin Galactic - Interview with Ruslan Kogan on Today Tonight (9/12/09)".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2021.Retrieved1 September2012.
  56. ^abBailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (27 May 2021)."The 200 richest people in Australia revealed".Australian Financial Review.Retrieved28 May2021.
  57. ^"Young Rich List"(PDF),BRW,2009,retrieved7 December2012
  58. ^"Tech companies populate BRW Young Rich - Software - Technology - News".CRN Australia.30 September 2010.Retrieved1 September2012.
  59. ^"2011 BRW Young Rich List"(PDF).BRW.2011.Retrieved1 November2011.
  60. ^Lindhe, Jane (27 September 2012),"Young Clicks v Old Bricks",BRW Magazine,retrieved8 December2012
  61. ^"Young Rich List",BRW,20 September 2013,retrieved21 September2013
  62. ^"2014 BRW Rich 200 list".BRW.Sydney. 26 June 2014.Retrieved31 August2014.[permanent dead link]
  63. ^"Young Rich List",BRW,11 November 2014,retrieved12 November2014
  64. ^Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2017)."Financial Review Rich List 2017".The Australian Financial Review.Retrieved8 June2017.
  65. ^Mayne, Stephen(26 May 2017)."Mayne's take: The top 25 Australian billionaires, as claimed by Fairfax".Crikey.Private Media.Retrieved10 October2019.
  66. ^Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2018)."2018 AFR Rich List: Who are Australia's richest people?".The Australian Financial Review.Retrieved26 May2018.
  67. ^Bailey, Michael (30 May 2019)."Australia's 200 richest people revealed".The Australian Financial Review.Nine Publishing.Retrieved31 May2019.
  68. ^"Top 100 Most Influential People"(PDF),The Age,2008,retrieved7 December2012
  69. ^"Fast Starters"(PDF),BRW,25 June 2009,retrieved7 December2012
  70. ^"Fast 100"(PDF),BRW,2010,retrieved7 December2012
  71. ^Olsen, David (29 April 2010)."Ruslan Kogan lands two companies in BRW's 2010 Fast Starters".Dynamic Business Australia.Retrieved1 September2012.
  72. ^Lindhe, Jane (29 April 2010),"Open All Hours"(PDF),BRW,retrieved7 December2012
  73. ^"Charter Retail Innovation Award"(PDF),Charter Security,1 August 2010, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 21 February 2011,retrieved1 August2010
  74. ^Magazine, Anthill (27 October 2010)."Ruslan Kogan, 2010 Anthill 30under30 Winner".Anthillonline.Retrieved12 November2012.
  75. ^"Top 100 Most Influential People"(PDF),The Age,retrieved7 December2012
  76. ^"2011's Hot 30 Under 30".Smartcompany.au.19 April 2011.Retrieved1 September2012.
  77. ^"Top Guns in Tech"(PDF),Virgin Australia,July 2011,retrieved7 December2012
  78. ^"Fast 100"(PDF),BRW,retrieved7 December2012
  79. ^"Men Of Influence 2012"(PDF),Men' Style Magazine,retrieved7 December2012
  80. ^"Ruslan Kogan (SR) | Entrepreneur of the Year".Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.Retrieved12 November2012.
  81. ^Shepherd, Grant,"Deloitte's top tech companies of 2012",Tech Trader,retrieved8 December2012
  82. ^"BRW Fast 100",BRW Magazine,25 October 2012,retrieved1 November2013
  83. ^"Top 50/2012: The Most Influential In Technology",The Australian,28 February 2012,retrieved7 December2012
  84. ^"2012's Hot 30 Under 30".Smartcompany.au. 17 April 2012.Retrieved1 September2012.
  85. ^Chapman, Mardi (March 2012),"Young CEOs"(PDF),The Australian,retrieved7 December2012
  86. ^"Tech 100"(PDF),T3,retrieved7 December2012
[edit]
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