Gurbaksh chahal biography templates

Biography of Gurbaksh Chahal

Gurbaksh Chahal is an Indian-American internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and writer. Born in Tarn Taran Sahib, Punjab, India, to Avtar Singh and Arjinder Chahal, he grew up with two sisters and one brother. In 1985, Chahal's parents obtained American visas through the US Green Card lottery program, and a year later, the family settled in San Jose, California.

At the age of 16, on December 15, 1998, Chahal dropped out of school to fully concentrate on developing his first project, 'ClickAgents'. ClickAgents was an advertising network that introduced the concept of pay-for-performance advertising. Two years later, on November 1, 2000, 'ValueClick' acquired the company in a $40 million merger. As part of the deal, Chahal signed a non-compete agreement with the buyers for the next three years.

In January 2004, Chahal launched 'BlueLithium', a behavioral targeting banner advertising company. He believed that tracking user behavior online would help better understand which type of advertising would be most effective for those users. BlueLithium quickly gained recognition as an innovative company and received the 'Best Innovator' award from 'AlwaysOn' in 2006. On October 15, 2007, 'Yahoo!' acquired the company for $300 million in cash, and Chahal remained the CEO during the transition period.

In September 2009, Chahal founded his third advertising company with a focus on real-time advertising. On December 1, 2009, the company received $12.5 million in initial funding from investors such as 'Adam Street Partners', 'Trinity Ventures', and Stanford University. On October 18, 2010, after the expiration of another non-compete agreement, the company was rebranded as 'RadiumOne'. RadiumOne introduced a programmable advertising platform that delivered real-time ads to users across the internet, including mobile devices and the social network 'Facebook'. As of March 2, 2012, RadiumOne was valued at over $500 million.

However, Chahal's reputation suffered a blow after he admitted to domestic violence. Police presented a video recording as evidence, alleging that Chahal had assaulted his girlfriend 117 times. On April 2, 2014, the judge ruled that the video could not be used as evidence. It was revealed that the recording came from Chahal's own home surveillance system, which included cameras throughout the house, including the bedroom where the alleged attack occurred.

On April 16, 2014, Chahal pleaded guilty to one count of domestic violence as part of a plea agreement. He was sentenced to three years of probation, 52 weeks of domestic violence prevention classes, and 25 hours of community service. The prosecution noted that the victim did not willingly cooperate during the investigation. Chahal later claimed that the incident had been sensationalized by the media and that most of the exaggerated allegations against him were aimed at destroying his reputation.

In July 2014, Chahal launched his fourth advertising company, 'Gravity4'. Despite the controversies surrounding his personal life, Chahal continued to pursue his entrepreneurial endeavors.

Throughout his career, Chahal has received recognition and awards for his entrepreneurial achievements and leadership, including the 'Leaders in Management' award and an honorary degree in commercial science from Pace University in April 2010. In April 2011, 'Men's Health' named Chahal as one of the "richest and strongest men in the world."