Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American political commentator, entrepreneur, lawyer, and philanthropist. Originally a corporate lawyer, Yang began working in various startups and early stage growth companies as a founder.

Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American political commentator, entrepreneur, lawyer, and philanthropist. Originally a, Yang began working in various and as a founder or executive from 2000 to 2009. In 2011, he founded (VFA), a focused on creating jobs in cities struggling to recover from the. He then ran as a candidate in the.The son of immigrants from, Yang grew up in. He attended and then. Dissatisfied with his work as an attorney, Yang began working for various startups during the before spending a decade as an executive at company, which was acquired in 2009. In 2011, Yang founded VFA, which recruits top college graduates into a two-year fellowship program at startups in developing cities across the United States.

The selected him in 2011 as a ' and in 2015 as a '. Yang left VFA in 2017 to focus on his.

In 2018, he authored, which outlines several of his campaign's central ideas.On November 6, 2017, Yang filed with the (FEC) to run for President of the United States in the 2020 election. Yang's campaign largely focused on responding to the rapid development of, which is increasingly leading to challenges and economic instability in the.

His signature policy is the ',' a (UBI) of $1,000 a month to every American adult, a response to, one of the primary factors that he claims led to 's election in. Considered a candidate throughout much of the primary, Yang received significant popularity online, with calling him 'The Internet's Favorite Candidate'. Yang qualified for and participated in seven of the first eight, and has been credited with elevating discussions on UBI, automation, and to the national level, as well as for engaging in presidential politics.Yang's campaign was noted for its 'happy go-lucky' and 'tech-friendly' nature. His supporters, informally known as the ', included and were noted for their ideological and political diversity. Yang suspended his campaign on February 11, 2020, shortly after the, pledging that he and his movement are 'just getting started'. On February 19, Yang joined as a political commentator.

On March 5, Yang announced the creation of the nonprofit organization Humanity Forward, dedicated to promoting the ideas he campaigned on during his run. Contents.Early life and education Yang was born on January 13, 1975, in. His parents emigrated from to the U.S.

In the 1960s, and met while they were both in at the. His father graduated with a in and worked in the research labs of and, generating over fifty in his career. His mother graduated with a in before becoming a at a local university, and later an artist. Yang has an older brother, Lawrence, who is a professor at. Yang's father, uncle, and cousin also became professors.Yang grew up in, first in, then in. He played, piano, and tennis when he was young.

Yang was one of the few children of East-Asian descent in his hometown, and he later described being bullied and called racial slurs by classmates while attending public school, in part because he was one of the smaller kids in his class after skipping a grade. In (2018), he wrote, 'Perhaps as a result, I've always taken pride in relating to the underdog or little guy or gal'. When Yang was 12 years old, he scored a 1220 out of 1600 on the SAT, qualifying him to attend the —a summer program for gifted kids run by —which he attended for the next five summers. Yang later attended, an elite boarding school in. Yang has claimed that he was part of the 1992 U.S. National debate team and competed at the world championships in London.

Yang graduated from Exeter in 1992. He enrolled at, where he majored in and, and graduated in 1996. He then attended, earning a in 1999. Career Early career After graduating from law school, Yang began his career as a corporate attorney at in. He quickly grew dissatisfied with the work, finding it grueling and unfulfilling. Yang later described the job as 'a pie-eating contest, and if you won, your prize was more pie.' He began to desire a career where he would get to 'build something.'

He left the law firm after five months, which he has called 'the five worst months of my life.' In February 2000 Yang joined his office mate, Jonathan Philips, in launching Stargiving, a website for celebrity-affiliated philanthropic fundraising. The startup had some initial success, but folded in 2002 as the burst. Yang became involved in other ventures, including a party-organizing business. From 2002 to 2005, he served as the vice president of a. Manhattan Prep After working in the healthcare industry for four years, Yang left MMF Systems to join his friend Zeke Vanderhoek at a small company,. In an appearance on the, Yang said he 'personally taught the analyst classes at, and ' during the.

In 2006, Vanderhoek asked Yang to take over as CEO. While Yang was CEO, the company primarily provided test preparation. It expanded from five to 69 locations and was acquired by in December 2009.

Yang resigned as the company's president in early 2012. Yang later said it was during his time at Manhattan Prep that he became a millionaire.In September 2019 testimony before the New York City Commission on Gender Equity, former employee Kimberly Watkins testified that Yang had fired her because he felt that she would not work as hard after getting married. Yang has denied the allegations, saying, 'Kimberly Watkins' facts about her break from Manhattan Prep are inaccurate. During my more than a decade as CEO, I have worked with many women, married and otherwise, and value their work and dedication as important to the success of any institution'. In an appearance on, Yang said, 'I've had so many phenomenal women leaders that have elevated me and my organizations at every phase of my career, and if I was that kind of person I would never have had any success.'

In November, a former employee of Yang's at Manhattan GMAT filed a lawsuit against him for allegedly paying her less than her male co-workers and subsequently firing her for asking for a raise. Yang and another female employee at the company disputed the anonymous woman's claim that she was in an equivalent position to the male co-workers she cited. Venture for America. Main article:Following the acquisition of Manhattan Prep in late 2009, Yang began to work on creating a new nonprofit fellowship program, (VFA), which he founded in 2011 with the mission 'to create economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs'. VFA was launched with $200,000 and trained 40 graduates in 2012 and 69 in 2013, sending them to,. VFA added, and in 2014, with a class of 106.

Yang speaks about entrepreneurship at the 2015 Conference in,.VFA's strategy was to recruit the nation's top college graduates into a two-year fellowship program in which they would work for and apprentice at promising startups in developing cities across the United States. Yang's book Smart People Should Build Things (2014) argues that the top universities in the country cherry-pick the smartest kids out of small towns and funnel them into the same corporate jobs in the same big cities. VFA's goal is to help distribute that talent around the country and incentivize entrepreneurship for economic growth.After 2011 VFA grew, reaching a $6 million annual operating budget in 2017, and operating in about 20 U.S. Cities, adding,. VFA began running a ' in Detroit and launched a seed fund and an investment fund for fellows.VFA quickly received national attention, including from the. In 2011, Yang was selected as a ', a program 'recognizing ordinary Americans across the country who are doing extraordinary work in their communities. Grow up meaning. In 2015, Yang was recognized as a '.In 2014, Yang published Smart People Should Build Things, which emphasized the importance of intelligent people becoming entrepreneurs and engaging in the startup economy, rather than pursuing more traditional careers.

You play as a faery or elf, recently awoken from a crystal stasis pod by the King, tasked with uncovering the reason behind all the turmoil in the neighboring sections of Avalon. Flittering about four vastly different environments - Avalon (the main hub world), the Flying Dutchman (ghost pirate ship). The first thing you need to know about Faery: Legends of Avalon is that you can fly. Not temporarily like Mario, not via airship like Final Fantasy – flying replaces walking and it's your only method of transportation. The second thing you need to know about Faery: Legends of Avalon is that it's not a very good game. But hey – at least you can fly. Faery: Legends of Avalon is a classic rpg, which is great because we are severely lacking in them lately. The combat is turn based, the quests are nothing out-of-the-ordinary, and the story is. Faery: Legends of Avalon is an original RPG, ruined by simplistic mechanics and a superficial gameplay. Some designing choices are pretty good, but game experience is too linear and slow, without any kind of challenge. After five or six hours, Faery: Legends of Avalon presents another all-black or all-white decision that makes no difference one way or another, because the game immediately ends the moment you.

Generation Startup, a documentary film about six startups in Detroit launched through the VFA program, was released in 2016. It was co-directed by and Cheryl Miller Houser.In March 2017, Yang stepped down from his position as CEO of VFA, but continued to advise startups aligned to his signature policy of throughout his presidential campaign. Humanity Forward On March 5, 2020, following the suspension of his presidential campaign, Yang announced that he was creating the nonprofit organization Humanity Forward, dedicated to promoting the ideas he campaigned on during his run, such as UBI and data privacy. Humanity Forward will also seek to engage and activate new voters while supporting like-minded down-ballot candidates, following the model of the pro-Bernie Sanders.

Yang also announced that the organization would give away $500,000 in UBI to the residents of a (currently unspecified) town in New York to demonstrate UBI's benefits.In mid-March, several prominent Democrats and Republicans advocated for basic income in response to. After the said it was considering a form of basic income in response to the pandemic, Yang announced that he had been in touch with the White House and had offered his team's services. On March 20, CNN reported that Humanity Forward would soon spend $1 million on $1,000 monthly payments to 500 low-income households in during the crisis.

Yang tweeted that the number of households was expected to double with additional funding. Net worth Media outlets have provided several estimates of Yang's net worth: $1 million according to, between $834,000 and $2.4 million according to, and between $3 million and $4 million according to. 2020 presidential campaign. Yang makes a speech in New Hampshire in January 2019. His book, is displayed.On November 6, 2017, Yang filed with the (FEC) to run for in. The campaign began with a small initial staff working out of an apartment owned by Yang's mother. He ran on multiple slogans, including 'Humanity First', 'Make America Think Harder (MATH)', and 'Not Left, Not Right, Forward'.

Initially considered a longshot, Yang's campaign gained significant momentum in February 2019 following an appearance on the popular podcast. He has since appeared on numerous other podcasts and shows, including,. By March 2019, Yang had met the polling and fundraising thresholds to qualify for the first round of.

In August 2019, he met the higher thresholds to qualify for the second round of Democratic debates. Later, he also qualified for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Democratic debates. Yang was unable to qualify for the January 2020 debate due to not having met a polling threshold in enough DNC Certified national polls. He did qualify for the February 2020 debate.Yang's campaign focused largely on policy, in what described as a 'technocratic approach'. Yang regularly called a symptom of a wider problem in the, rather than the problem itself.

According to, Yang was known for doing interviews with conservative news outlets, and 'although Yang tweets often, he almost never tweets about Mr. This approach was exemplified by one of Yang's campaign slogans: 'Not Left, Not Right, Forward'.

According to a July 2019 poll, Yang was one of two 2020 Democratic candidates, along with Senator, with double-digit support among voters who voted for Trump in 2016. Polling conducted by in the fall of 2019 found that Yang had the highest net satisfaction rate among undecided 2020 general election voters, and a November 2019 College Pulse poll found that Yang had the highest crossover support among college students of any candidate in the 2020 race, with 18% of Republican college students saying they would support Yang over Trump in the general election. Yang speaks with attendees at the 2019 Iowa Democratic Wing Ding at Surf Ballroom in.Yang's campaign was known for its heavy reliance on -based campaigning. The campaign was also known for its popularity online, with calling Yang 'The Internet's Favorite Candidate'.

His campaign supporters, known informally as the, brought attention to his campaign on, and other platforms, through and campaigning.Yang is at least the third American of descent to run for President of the United States, after. According to, he 'is one of the first and most recognizable East in history to run for president'. He has said that he hopes his 'campaign can inspire Asian Americans to be engaged in politics'.Yang dropped out of the presidential race on February 11, 2020. On March 10, 2020, Yang endorsed. Endorsements. Yang speaks with attendees at a fundraiser hosted by the Iowa Asian and Latino Coalition at Jasper Winery in Des Moines, Iowa.On March 11, 2019, Yang announced that he surpassed the fundraising threshold of 65,000 donors, qualifying him to participate in the first round of.

On June 28, he announced that he reached 130,000 donors, which met the fundraising criterion for the third round of debates.In the first quarter of 2019, Yang raised $1.7 million, of which more than $250,000 came from 'the last four days of the quarter'. According to Yang's campaign, 'the average donation was $17.92' and '99% of the donations were less than $200'. In the second quarter, Yang raised $2.8 million.

The campaign stated that 99.6% 'of its donors were small-dollar donors who gave less than $200'. On August 13, 2019, Yang's third-quarter fundraising reached $2.8 million, matching his total second-quarter fundraising. On August 15, he reached 200,000 unique donors.

On August 17, Yang announced that among his campaign donors, 'the most common jobs are software engineers, teachers, drivers, retail workers and warehouse workers' and the 'biggest employer is the '. On September 1, he announced that the average donation was $25, and that the campaign had received no corporate (PAC) money. In the 72 hours after the third debate, Yang's campaign raised $1 million, suggesting that it 'is on track to raise significantly more in the third quarter' than in the second quarter, according to.In the third quarter, Yang's campaign raised $10 million, representing a 257% quarterly increase—the largest growth rate among the fundraising numbers of all candidates. The average donation was around $30, and 99% of the donations were $200 or less.In the fourth quarter, Yang's campaign raised $16.5 million.

During his entire 2020 campaign, he received donations from about 400,000 unique donors, with 75% of donations coming from 'small dollar' donors who gave $200 or less. Supporters and media coverage. Yang's supporters form a crowd at the Liberty and Justice Celebration in. Yang is visible in the background.On multiple occasions, Yang's campaign and supporters have criticized media outlets, such as and CNN, for their coverage of Yang.

Incidents include cases of news outlets excluding Yang from lists of. On August 29, 2019, Yang supporters prompted the hashtag #YangMediaBlackout to trend on Twitter after a CNN displaying the results of a poll included candidate Beto O'Rourke but not Yang, even though the poll showed Yang polling three times higher than O'Rourke. Yang supporters also criticized media outlets for providing disproportionately low coverage of Yang, pointing out that according to The New York Times, Yang has received some of the least coverage in cable news among the candidates, even though he was polling better than most of the field.In early September, Yang's lack of media coverage was reported by several media outlets, including CNN.

Noted that while Yang polled in the top six of the Democratic primary and was 'getting plenty of online attention', he was 'being treated by the media like a bottom-tier candidate'. Of observed that there was 'a persistent pattern of ignoring Yang's candidacy' among media outlets such as CNN. She further noted that Scott Santens, one of Yang's supporters, 'has been keeping track of the apparent slights via Twitter'. On October 23, 2019, Santens released an article compiling the mainstream media's exclusions of Yang. In November 2019, Yang's campaign manager dismissed an apology by MSNBC for leaving Yang off an infographic, which according to Santens's compilation was the 15th time in the campaign cycle MSNBC or its related networks had wrongfully excluded Yang. On November 23, 2019, following the MSNBC-hosted November debate in which Yang received the least speaking time and was not called upon for the first 30 minutes of the two-hour debate, Yang publicly rejected a request to appear on MSNBC unless the network would 'apologize on air, discuss and include our campaign consistent with our polling, and allow surrogates from our campaign as they do other candidates '.

A analysis found that Yang received significantly less speaking time at debates than would be expected given his polling numbers. In late December 2019, Yang ended his boycott of MSNBC, saying he preferred to 'speak to as many Americans as possible.'

End of campaign Yang dropped out of the race on February 11, 2020, after a disappointing result in the New Hampshire primary. He announced to his supporters, 'while we did not win this election, we are just getting started.'

Suggested that he 'would make a very interesting candidate' for the; Yang said, 'it's incredibly flattering to be thought of in that role. We haven't ruled anything out at this point. I will say I'm more attracted to executive roles than legislative ones because I think you can get more done.' On March 3, Yang reiterated his interest in the mayorship to.On February 19, Yang joined CNN as a. On February 22, he said that 'Someone needs to pull an Andrew Yang' and drop out of the race, referring to Bernie Sanders' emergence as the front-runner and the remaining candidates competing to position themselves against him.

In late February, it was reported that 's had reached out to Yang concerning an endorsement. Yang said on CNN that 'multiple campaigns have reached out, and it's flattering to be considered for a VP role or any role in someone's campaign,' but said that he would be 'much more enthusiastic about considering an endorsement' if a candidate made a commitment to the issues he had run on, including job automation and UBI.On March 5, Yang announced his involvement with the nonprofit organization Humanity Forward. On March 10, the night of the, he endorsed Joe Biden. He said he understood Sanders supporters' frustration, but that beating Trump in the election was the most important objective.

The same day, CNN accidentally called Yang the 'Democratic presidential nominee' in a tweet. Yang will host an upcoming podcast titled Yang Speaks. Political positions. Yang speaks with attendees at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum hosted by and Moms Demand Action at the in Des Moines, Iowa.Many of Yang's political views are based around an idea he has called '. In April 2018, he published, which focused largely on his domestic policies.

On Yang's campaign website, more than 160 policies are listed. Central to his 2020 campaign was the proposal of a monthly $1,000 ' to all over the age of 18 (a form of, or UBI) in response to worker displacement driven by technological automation.

According to Yang, the Freedom Dividend's benefits include 'healthier people, less stressed-out people, better-educated people, stronger communities, more volunteerism, and more civic participation. There's zero bureaucracy associated with it because there is no need to verify whether people's circumstances change.' Citing forecasting by the, Yang has said that the dividend 'would create up to 2 million new jobs in American communities'. However, the policies the Roosevelt Institute studied differ from Yang's Freedom Dividend in some significant ways. Yang has said that the dividend would be opt-in. For those receiving welfare benefits, opting in to the dividend would replace some benefits while stacking with others. Yang has said that he became a UBI advocate after reading American futurist 's book, which deals with the impact of automation and on the job market and economy.

He believes UBI is a more viable policy than job retraining programs, citing studies showing that job retraining of displaced manufacturing workers in the had success rates of 0–15%.Yang has proposed a to finance the dividend and to combat by large American corporations. He argues that -driven job displacement was the main reason Donald Trump won the, saying that based on data, 'There's a straight line up between the adoption of industrial robots in a community and the movement towards Donald Trump.' Yang's campaign slogan 'Humanity First' called attention to his belief that automation of many key industries is one of the biggest threats facing the American workforce. On healthcare, he has said that while he supports 'the spirit of ', he 'would keep the option of private insurance', with the ultimate goal to 'demonstrate to the American people that private insurance is not what they need' and that Medicare for All is 'superior to their current insurance.' But his 2020 policy proposal did not commit to Medicare for All or contain a, focusing instead on reducing costs and eventually expanding coverage. Yang speaking with the media at the 2019 in Des Moines, IowaYang supports the implementation of 'democracy dollars': $100 every year, 'use it or lose it', for citizens to give to candidates.

The policy aims to drown out corporate money resulting from political. He supports ending partisan, and lowering the national to 16. Yang supports and (including ) for personal use, but does not support legalizing or decriminalizing. He has cited, which he believes to be similar, as evidence of the effectiveness of his policy. Yang supports a and bringing the U.S. Back into the, as well as investing in. He supports legislation banning discrimination based on and, and has pledged to appoint judges.

Yang has proposed creating a department focused on regulating the, appointing a, making a national holiday, and, to stem corruption, increasing the salaries of federal regulators but limiting their private work after they leave public service. He supports legalizing in all 50 states, the 'first legitimate candidate' to do so according to. Yang makes a speech at 'Youth Voice: The Iowa Caucus', a presidential candidate forum hosted in September 2019 at in Des Moines, Iowa.Yang has said that 'is a very, very important ally'.

In regard to the, Yang wants a 'two-state solution that allows both the Israeli and Palestinian people to have sovereign land and self-determination'. He has called a 'destabilizing force in the region', but supported Obama's. Yang has criticized 's treatment of its minority and China's 'more aggressive stance throughout the region, whether towards Hong Kong, Taiwan, or in the '. He also voiced support for the.

At the same time, Yang has warned against entering a 'New ' with China and stated: 'We're not going to be able to address global threats like climate change and even collaborate on artificial intelligence if we don't have a certain level of cooperation between the US and China.' Yang has opposed U.S.

Military support for the and has backed a more aggressive policy toward, saying, 'Russia is our biggest geopolitical threat, because they've been hacking our democracy successfully.' Yang wrote to the: 'Russian aggression is a destabilizing force, and we must work with our allies to project a strong and unified face against Russian expansionism. we need to, and Putin and members of his government specifically through the, in order to pressure the country to play by international rules.' Yang has said that the U.S. Has —just like Russia has—and that 'has to stop, and if it does not stop we will take this as an act of hostility against the American people'. Yang's wife, Evelyn Yang, speaking at an event during his presidential campaignYang has been married to Evelyn Yang ( Lu) since 2011, and they have two sons. Yang has spoken about his older son who has, saying, 'I'm very proud of my son and anyone who has someone on the spectrum in their family feels the exact same way.'

Yang attends the of with his family and has identified Mark E. Mast as their pastor. He considers himself spiritual. When speaking about his faith in an interfaith town hall at, Yang said he 'wouldn't be the first to say that his own journey is still in progress'.In an interview with The Hill, Yang said that is his favorite president and that he is the godfather of Roosevelt's great-granddaughter. Publications.

February 4, 2014. April 3, 2018.See also.References.