Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leader in powering video,
dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced
that President & CEO Paul Sagan was named the national winner of the
Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2009 Award in
the Technology category. Ernst & Young’s program recognizes outstanding
entrepreneurs who have built and lead dynamic, high-growth businesses on
a regional, national and global level. Paul Sagan was selected as a
national winner from more than 300 regional Entrepreneur Of The Year®
winners in over 25 U.S. cities.
The national award winners were announced at an awards gala on Saturday
in Palm Springs, California. The gala is the culminating event of the
Ernst & Young 2009 Strategic Growth Forum, the nation’s most prestigious
gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. This group of
outstanding entrepreneurs was selected by an independent judging panel
made up of business, community and academic leaders.
"The Entrepreneur Of The Year® award recognizes the
importance of entrepreneurs,” said Larry Haynes, Americas Director,
Entrepreneur Of The Year®, Ernst & Young LLP. "Our economy
depends on these entrepreneurs. They build businesses, support their
local communities and drive innovation and development in the economy at
large.”
This year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year® awards program
celebrates its 23rd anniversary. Since 1986, the program has
expanded to recognize business leaders in over 135 cities in 50
countries throughout the world. Awards are given to entrepreneurs who
demonstrate extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial
performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
Akamai also received the Ernst & Young Venture Capital Award of
Excellence at the Ernst & Young 2009 Strategic Growth Forum. The Venture
Capital (VC) Award of Excellence recognizes Ernst & Young LLP's
Entrepreneur Of The Year® regional winners whose companies have been
backed by venture capital funding. Out of more than 50 regional 2009
Entrepreneur of the Year winners who have benefited from VC funding,
these honorees were selected by an independent panel of judges from
leading VC firms, including Bain Capital Ventures, Fidelity Ventures,
MPM Capital, NewSpring Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Technology Cross
Ventures.
About Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s
most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The award makes a
difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among
those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who
inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the
first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur Of The Year® celebrates those who are building
and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them
through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135
cities in 50 countries.
The Akamai Difference
Akamai® provides market-leading managed services for powering
video, dynamic transactions, and enterprise applications online. Having
pioneered the content delivery market one decade ago, Akamai's services
have been adopted by the world's most recognized brands across diverse
industries. The alternative to centralized Web infrastructure, Akamai's
global network of tens of thousands of distributed servers provides the
scale, reliability, insight and performance for businesses to succeed
online. Akamai has transformed the Internet into a more viable place to
inform, entertain, advertise, interact, and collaborate. To experience
The Akamai Difference, visit www.akamai.com.