Brian O'Kelley

Brian O'Kelley
Born	Charles Brian O'Kelley 1977 (age 47–48)
Education	Princeton University
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Co-founder, CEO of Scope3 Co-founder, former CEO AppNexus
Board member of	LiveRamp

Brian O'Kelley (born 1977) is a serial entrepreneur in the tech industry often credited with the invention of programmatic advertising and the online ad exchange. ^[1] He is the founder and former CEO of AppNexus, an advertising technology company that was sold to AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018. ^[2]

Early life and education

O'Kelley grew up in Eugene, Oregon and went to South Eugene High School, where he played basketball. ^[3] After graduating high school in 1995, O'Kelley went to Princeton University, where he graduated in 1999 with a B.S.E. in Computer Science. ^[4]

Career

O'Kelley's first executive role was as CTO of Right Media, where he helped invent the ad exchange and precursor technology to what has become programmatic advertising. O'Kelley was fired from Right Media in 2007 after telling the board to not take a deal from Yahoo. Shortly thereafter, Right Media was sold to Yahoo for $850 million. ^[5]

Together with Mike Nolet, Right Media's former Director of Analytics and Product Manager, O'Kelley founded AppNexus in 2007. At its height, AppNexus employed over 1,000 people. O'Kelley served as CEO of the company until it acquired by AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018. ^[6]

Following the sale of AppNexus, O'Kelley chose to keep less than $100 million for himself and his family, donating the rest to charities. In an interview with Fortune, O'Kelley said, "I don’t believe in billionaires. I think it’s just ridiculous."

In 2019, O'Kelley founded CMDTY together with Andrea Aranguren, later changing the company name to Waybridge in November 2020. Waybridge seeks to apply data and technology to supply chain and logistics management. ^[7]

In 2021, O'Kelley co-founded Scope3 together with Anne Coghlan. Scope3 aims to help advertisers and publishers reduce emissions associated with digital advertising. ^[8]

Patents

O'Kelley is credited as an inventor on more than a dozen US patents relating to advertising technology. ^[9]

Awards

• Crain's 40 under 40 (2012) ^[10]
• The Silicon Alley 100 (2010) ^[11]

References

1. "Speaker Details: EmTech MIT 2025". event.technologyreview.com. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
2. Lunden, Ingrid (2018-06-25). "AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus, reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
3. Marinova, Polina (May 24, 2016). "They Played High School Basketball Together. Now, They Lead Billion-Dollar Companies". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
4. Cremades, Alejandro. "Brian O'Kelley On Building A $1.6 Billion Company Acquired By Microsoft And Creating A Protocol To Measure And Lower Carbon Emissions In Digital Supply Chains". Alejandro Cremades. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
5. Royle, Emma Burleigh,Orianna Rosa. "This CEO got fired 3 times before becoming his own boss and selling his company for $1.6 billion—he tells struggling Gen Z that's the point of your 20s". Fortune. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
6. "How Did Brian O'Kelley Build His Tech Empire?". https://www.ceotodaymagazine.com/ . Retrieved 2025-11-17.{{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
7. Schiff, Allison (2019-09-12). "Brian O'Kelley's Next Move Has Nothing – And Everything – To Do With Advertising". AdExchanger. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
8. Graham, Megan (2023-10-12). "WSJ News Exclusive | Scope3 Raises $20 Million to Expand Business Measuring Digital Ads' Emissions". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2025-11-17.
9. "Google Patents". patents.google.com. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
10. "40 under 40 Class of:2012". Crain's New York Business. 2018-07-07. Retrieved 2025-11-18.
11. "The Silicon Alley 100: New York's Coolest Tech People In 2010". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-11-18.