Ellen Siminoff

Ellen Siminoff
Born	1967 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, investor, board director, CEO
Years active	1996–present
Known for	Co-founder and CEO of Shmoop; founding executive at Yahoo!; CEO of Efficient Frontier

Ellen Siminoff (born 1967 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and board director. Recognized repeatedly by The New York Times as a specialist in the Internet sector, she was honored as one of Forbes magazine's Masters of Information in 2005.

Alongside her spouse, David Siminoff, she co-established and held the CEO position at Shmoop, an educational technology firm based in Silicon Valley that specializes in academic content and digital learning solutions.

Life and education

Siminoff obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Princeton University and completed her MBA at Stanford University, where she met her husband David Siminoff while attending the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Additionally, she earned a Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies with a concentration in Software Engineering from Harvard University.

Career

With extensive leadership experience in media and technology sectors, Siminoff served as president and CEO of Shmoop University from 2007 through 2018, guiding the educational publishing company. Prior to this role, she headed Efficient Frontier, a prominent Search Engine Marketing (SEM) management enterprise that was eventually acquired by Adobe.

Yahoo!

Siminoff was a founding executive at Yahoo!, contributing from 1996 until 2002. She initially managed corporate and business development functions, including mergers and acquisitions following J. J. Healy’s exit. Subsequently, she advanced to Senior Vice President overseeing Entertainment and Small Business divisions, while Toby Coppel and Jeff Weiner assumed corporate development responsibilities. In April 2002, she announced her intention to leave but remained through the end of the year amid a wave of executive departures that included CEO Timothy Koogle and other top leaders.

Efficient Frontier

Serving as chairman and CEO, Siminoff led Efficient Frontier to become the largest purchaser of Google search advertising keywords by July 2006. In March 2008, Silicon Alley Insider ranked the company among Silicon Valley’s top 25 most valuable private firms, with an estimated worth near $275 million. Adobe Inc. acquired Efficient Frontier for $400 million in 2012.

Zynga

In 2012, Siminoff joined the board of directors at Zynga Inc., acquiring 250,000 shares in November of that year. She remained on Zynga’s board until 2022, contributing to the Audit Committee and serving as chairperson for the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Take-Two Interactive

Following Zynga’s merger with Take-Two Interactive, Siminoff became a member of Take-Two Interactive’s board in May 2022.

Other board positions

Siminoff has held board roles at Journal Media Group, U.S. Auto Parts, Mozilla Corporation, SolarWinds, Discovery Education, and Zynga. Currently, she is executive chairman at BigCommerce (BIGC), Verifone—a global payment solutions provider—Follett Software, and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO). Moreover, she has provided advisory support to Stanford Graduate School of Business, Princeton University’s President's Advisory Council, and Stanford’s Hoover Institution Board of Overseers.