Armand Rousso
Encyclopedia
Armand Rousso, also known as Marc Rousso, is a business man who was born in France. He is the founder of Accoona.com, a business-to-business search engine, and X3D Techonology.
In 1986, when the Internet was little known entity, Rousso started an online stamp exchange website, The International Stamp Exchange, which lasted until 1990. He thought online advertising revenues could be lucrative enough to make a business dedicated to philatelists profitable.
In the mid 1990s, Rousso became involved with Philippe V. Hababou, a Frenchman convicted of check fraud. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money-laundering charges; in 1999, he was convicted of securities fraud in France and was also caught up in the investigation over illegal campaign contributions to the 1996 Senate campaign of Robert G. Torricelli.
search engine. Launched in 2004 with former President Bill Clinton
as chief announcer, the company failed to gain any significant part of the search engine market, though the online electronics retailers it also owns did make the company money. (Clinton reportedly made $700,000 for his Clinton Foundation in 2006 from selling Accoona stock.) The initial $80.5 million offering was underwritten by Maxim Group. However, as the New York Times reported, "Accoona.com attracted only 106,000 visitors from the United States in July (2007), according to comScore, which monitors Internet traffic." The underwriter withdrew, possibly as a result of Rousso's checkered past. In 2008, the company was acquired by Masterseek
.
technology for the internet) sponsored several World Championship Matches, including Garry Kasparov
vs Anatoly Karpov
(2002) and Garry Kasparov vs X3D Fritz
(2003).
Biography
French born entrepreneur Armand Rousso settled in the United States in 1982, working as a trader of stamps. In 1985 he stated he bartered $45 million (catalog value) in rare stamps.In 1986, when the Internet was little known entity, Rousso started an online stamp exchange website, The International Stamp Exchange, which lasted until 1990. He thought online advertising revenues could be lucrative enough to make a business dedicated to philatelists profitable.
In the mid 1990s, Rousso became involved with Philippe V. Hababou, a Frenchman convicted of check fraud. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money-laundering charges; in 1999, he was convicted of securities fraud in France and was also caught up in the investigation over illegal campaign contributions to the 1996 Senate campaign of Robert G. Torricelli.
Accoona search engine
Rousso was founder of Accoona, a B2BBusiness-to-business
Business-to-business describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer...
search engine. Launched in 2004 with former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
as chief announcer, the company failed to gain any significant part of the search engine market, though the online electronics retailers it also owns did make the company money. (Clinton reportedly made $700,000 for his Clinton Foundation in 2006 from selling Accoona stock.) The initial $80.5 million offering was underwritten by Maxim Group. However, as the New York Times reported, "Accoona.com attracted only 106,000 visitors from the United States in July (2007), according to comScore, which monitors Internet traffic." The underwriter withdrew, possibly as a result of Rousso's checkered past. In 2008, the company was acquired by Masterseek
Masterseek
Masterseek Corp. is a B2B search engine founded in Denmark in 1999. It currently hosts over 83 million worldwide company profiles from 75 countries, and business subscribers are given complete control over their corporate profiles...
.
Chess
Rousso is active in international chess and with his company X3D Technologies (which develops 3-D3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
technology for the internet) sponsored several World Championship Matches, including Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
vs Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
(2002) and Garry Kasparov vs X3D Fritz
X3D Fritz
X3D Fritz was a version of the Fritz chess program, which in November 2003 played a four-game Human-computer chess match against world number one Grandmaster Garry Kasparov...
(2003).