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Business and Tech Leaders

1,593 Questions

Business and tech leaders covers prominent founders, chief executives, and economists who shaped global industries. This section features questions on leaders of major technology corporations and financial institutions. It is a highly scoring topic in general awareness.

Tech company foundersGlobal CEOsFinancial institution leadersChief economistsCorporate history

Business and Tech Leaders Questions

Multiple choice general knowledge

CEO of Toyota?

  1. Akio Toyoda

  2. Katsuaki Watanabe

  3. Fujio Cho

  4. Kiichiro Toyoda
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Fujio Cho served as President of Toyota Motor Corporation from 1999 to 2005. Akio Toyoda (grandson of founder) became CEO much later (2009), Katsuaki Watanabe was between them, and Kiichiro Toyoda founded the company but was not CEO in this context.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Who founded Oracle?

  1. Bill Gates

  2. Larry Page

  3. Larry Ellison

  4. Steve Waznaik
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Larry Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation (originally called Software Development Laboratories) in 1977 with Bob Miner and Ed Oates. Oracle is renowned for its relational database management systems. Bill Gates founded Microsoft, Larry Page co-founded Google, and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple.

Multiple choice general knowledge

".... after the Chinese, South Indians are the most intelligent people in the world."

  1. Sir M Viswesvaraiah

  2. Bill Gates

  3. George Bush

  4. No one can ever say "THAT"
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This quote praising Indian intelligence is attributed to Bill Gates (though some sources question its authenticity). He reportedly made this comment during a visit to India, acknowledging the country's significant contributions to information technology and the intellectual capabilities of its people, particularly from South India.

Multiple choice general knowledge history

Who started the concept of Credit card?

  1. Steve Jobs

  2. Trevor Bayliss

  3. Niklas Zennstrom

  4. Frank McNamara
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Frank McNamara founded the Diners Club in 1950, which introduced the first multipurpose charge card (credit card). Steve Jobs is associated with Apple, Trevor Bayliss invented the wind-up radio, and Niklas Zennstrom co-founded Skype.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Who designed Tata logo?

  1. Stuart Card

  2. Jacques Bertin

  3. Wollf Olins

  4. Otto Neurath
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Wolff Olins is the brand consultancy firm that designed the current Tata logo (the 'T' inside an oval) in 1998.

Multiple choice general knowledge

If you have to ask how much something costs, you can't afford it.

  1. Steve Ballmer

  2. Steven Jobs

  3. J. P. Morgan

  4. Michael Dell
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The quote 'If you have to ask how much something costs, you can't afford it' is famously attributed to J.P. Morgan, the American financier. It reflects his philosophy about wealth and luxury. Steve Ballmer, Steven Jobs, and Michael Dell are not associated with this quote.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Which tech celebrity famously impresses dinner guests by whipping out an acoustic guitar and playing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"?

  1. Oracle chairman Larry Ellison

  2. Netscape inventor Marc Andreessen

  3. Google CEO Eric Schmidt

  4. Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Larry Ellison, Oracle's chairman, is known for playing acoustic guitar at gatherings and often performs Beethoven's Ode to Joy. This quirky personality trait is well-documented in tech industry profiles. Marc Andreessen, Eric Schmidt, and Marc Benioff are not famous for this particular party trick.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Jason Fried is the founder of what 3N (number noun name) Web 2.0 firm?

  1. 43folders

  2. 37signals

  3. 30boxes

  4. 27jennifers
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Jason Fried co-founded 37signals (now Basecamp), a Web 2.0 company known for productivity tools and business philosophy books. The name follows the pattern of a number followed by a plural word, like 43folders, 30boxes, and 27jennifers. Jason Fried is a prominent figure in the Web 2.0 movement.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

In college he started a Hot or Not?-style site for rating fellow students' physical attractiveness, which almost resulted in his expulsion. Since then he's founded a social network. Who is this mystery man?

  1. Jonathan Abrams (Friendster)

  2. Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn)

  3. Biz Stone (Xanga)

  4. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Mark Zuckerberg created a Hot or Not-style site called Facemash at Harvard, which almost got him expelled. He later founded Facebook, which evolved from this early project. Jonathan Abrams founded Friendster, Reid Hoffman founded LinkedIn, and Biz Stone co-founded Twitter, not Facebook.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

How did celeb hacker Kevin Mitnick get his start?

  1. Breaking into Bank of America's corporate account records

  2. Breaking into the Department of Justice's records on its U.S. v. Microsoft case

  3. Hacking into Social Security number account records

  4. Hacking the Los Angeles bus punch card system in order to get free bus rides
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Kevin Mitnick started hacking by manipulating the Los Angeles bus punch card system to get free rides as a teenager. This early social engineering exploit began his hacking career before he moved on to more serious computer intrusions. The other options are not the documented starting point of Mitnick's hacking activities.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

This blogging pioneer once denied wasting $2 million a year on "hookers and blow." Who is he?

  1. Mena Trott, co-founder of Six Apart

  2. Brad Fitzpatrick, creator of LiveJournal

  3. Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress

  4. Evan Williams, co-founder of Blogger and Twitter
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Brad Fitzpatrick, creator of LiveJournal, made a famous statement denying that he wasted $2 million annually on 'hookers and blow' - a humorous response to rumors about LiveJournal's profitability. LiveJournal was one of the earliest and most successful blogging platforms. Mena Trott, Matt Mullenweg, and Evan Williams are other blogging pioneers but not associated with this specific quote.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

They met at Stanford, started an Internet company together, and are now worth gazillions. For which of these dynamic duos does this description NOT apply?

  1. Larry Page and Sergey Brin

  2. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen

  3. Jerry Yang and David Filo

  4. Scott McNealy and Bill Joy
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford before founding Google. Jerry Yang and David Filo met at Stanford before creating Yahoo. Scott McNealy and Bill Joy were both Stanford alumni who built Sun Microsystems. However, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen met while working at PayPal (then owned by eBay), not at Stanford, before founding YouTube. All four pairs became incredibly wealthy, but only the Hurley-Chen duo did not meet at Stanford.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

What famous Microsoft-hater once led Microsoft's network software team and later founded a company that made him a billionaire?

  1. RealAudio CEO Rob Glaser

  2. Chuck Thacker, co-inventor of Ethernet

  3. Lotus CEO Mitch Kapor

  4. Google CEO Eric Schmidt
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Rob Glaser did work at Microsoft leading their network software efforts before leaving to found RealNetworks (maker of RealAudio). He became a vocal Microsoft critic and built RealNetworks into a major competitor in media software, becoming a billionaire in the process. The other options are incorrect: Chuck Thacker co-invented Ethernet at Xerox PARC, Mitch Kapor founded Lotus (and was also a Microsoft critic but didn't work for them), and Eric Schmidt was CEO of Google and Novell, not a Microsoft-hating billionaire founder.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

What tech revolutionary said the following regarding the Federal Trade Commission's 1991 investigation into Microsoft's allegedly unfair business dealings: "Gates has clearly won, the revolution is over, and the free-wheeling innovation in the software industry has ground to a halt. For me, it's the Kingdom of the Dead."

  1. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle

  2. New York Times reporter John Markoff in a flaming editorial

  3. Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus, in his 1999 book, "Hard Drive"

  4. The late Ray Noorda, founder of Novell (the words are on his tombstone)
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation, was a prominent Microsoft critic during the 1990s antitrust era. The quote reflects Kapor's view that Microsoft's market dominance had crushed innovation in the software industry. While the quote's exact attribution needs verification, Kapor did author critical commentary about Microsoft's practices, including in his writings. Larry Ellison was also a Microsoft critic but the quote style fits Kapor's published critiques better.