Andrew Mason is
among the entrepreneurs that were able to make their mark before they even
reach the age 30. As founder and former CEO of discounts site Groupon, Mason
was able to show how a leader should act. Aside from leading a company towards
its success, Mason showed that it is also important for a CEO to be ready to
face responsibilities like a man even if it takes volunteering for his salary
to be reduced and eventually leaving his office without complaints when the
situation naturally calls for it.
Mason was born in 1980 to a Jewish family based
in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania. At the young age of 15, he started a Saturday
morning delivery service known as Bagel Expres. After graduating with a degree
in music from Northwestern University in 2003, he concentrated in web design
for Chicago-based entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky, working for the company
InnerWorkings. Later on, Lefkofsky gave Mason a $1 million bankroll to
establish The Point which is later to be known as Groupon. The site garnered
success and in 2010, it was reported that the company’s annual revenue was $800
million.
In 2010, Mason’s salary as CEO was $180,000 but
at his own recommendation, it was reduced down to $756.52. In 2012, they
launched Groupon Payments. However on December 18, 2012, Mason was named by
Herb Greenberg of CNBC as the “Worst CEO of the Year” coining him as “more like
a big kid than a company leader” because of his unfruitful decisions. On
February 28, 2013, he was dismissed as CEO of the company because of unreached
sales expectations. Even if he was fired, Mason acknowledged that as CEO, he
was accountable for the problems that the company has faced.
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