Have you ever booked a trip on Expedia or checked the value of a real estate listing on Zillow? Each was the brainchild of the Seattle-based tech entrepreneur—and part-time Amagansett resident—Rich Barton, who is profiled in The New York Times.
As The New York Times points out “Entrepreneurs are lucky to have one big score. Richard Barton has had a string of them, by repeatedly asking the same simple question: What piece of marketplace information do people crave and don’t have”
The article goes on to list some of Barton's notable successes, many of which were fueled by a "power to the people" philosophy.
Nearly 20 years ago, back in the web’s Cambrian Period, Mr. Barton cut into the business of travel agents by giving consumers a way to see airline ticket prices with Expedia, the online travel agency he founded inside Microsoft. With Zillow, he rattled real estate agents by showing the market values of homes. And Glassdoor, a top employment site, revealed employee satisfaction, salaries and other workplace data, making some executives squirm.
The 46-year-old Barton and his family spend their summers in Amagansett. Unlike many high-flying moguls, he keeps a low profile. Described in the article as "a tanned and athletic Stanford graduate," Barton is an avid surfer who keeps himself in shape by working out on the beach in East Hampton with local trainer and lifeguard Jimmy Minardi.
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