Bill Gross is the founder of more than 150 companies in the last 30 years with more than 50 successful IPOs and acquisitions, and 7 exits at over $1 billion each. He currently serves as the CEO of Heliogen (NYSE: HLGN), a publicly-traded renewable energy technology company he founded to replace fossil fuels with concentrated sunlight and decarbonize heavy industry. In December 2021, Heliogen completed its $2 billion business combination with Athena Technology Acquisition Corporation, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Bill also founded and serves as the chairman of Idealab, the longest-running technology startup incubator. He is considered the inventor of paid search and the cost-per-click business model. The company he founded, GoTo.com was acquired by Yahoo for $1.6 billion and later became the foundation of Google’s search advertising business. Bill has a mechanical engineering degree from the California Institute of Technology and has served on the Caltech Board of Trustees for more than 20 years.