David Risher
David Risher is CEO of Lyft and co-founder & Board Founding Chair of Worldreader. Throughout his career, he’s led large-scale consumer-facing companies and organizations combining technology, education, and philanthropy.
David co-founded Worldreader in 2010 and acted as CEO until 2023 when he transitioned to the position of Board Founding Chair. His vision and guidance allowed the organization to reach over 22 million readers in more than 100 countries, empowering children to reach their potential through the transformative power of reading. He plans to continue helping the organization support millions more, with a focus on children completing at least 25 books a year with understanding.
At Microsoft, David led the marketing and development of the first versions of Microsoft Access, Microsoft’s Windows database, and then created Microsoft Investor, one of the company’s earliest and most-successful web properties.
As Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Retail, David led the then-$16M online bookstore to become a $4B “everything store.” David worked directly for Jeff Bezos running site and store development, online merchandising, marketing, and store growth.
David is a Schwab Social Entrepreneur, a Draper Richards Kaplan Social Entrepreneur, a Microsoft Alumni Integral Fellow, and an invited member of the Clinton Global Initiative. He serves on the Boards of Lyft, Inc., Equeum, and the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. He holds a BA from Princeton University in Comparative Literature, an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Wilson College.
David and his wife, author Jennifer Risher, lead #HalfMyDAF, an organization that has helped give away over $30 million to nonprofits with the goal of inspiring others to give more. They live in San Francisco.
A favorite book of fiction: The Every by Dave Eggers – a cautionary tale of technology and our future. A favorite book of nonfiction: We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth which explores the impact wealth has had on his family.
