Who is Jared Polis?

Jared Polis is a politician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019.

He was the United States Representative for Colorado’s 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He was elected governor of Colorado in 2018.

Early life

Polis was born in 1975 in Colorado.

He went to school in San Diego and went on to study at Princeton University.

Business career

Polis co-founded American Information Systems (AIS), Inc., while still in college. AIS was an internet access provider and was sold in 1998. In 1996 he co-founded a free electronic greeting card website, bluemountain.com, which was sold to Excite@Home in 1999 for $430 million in stock and $350 million in cash.

In February 1998 Polis founded ProFlowers, an online florist, in La Jolla, California. ProFlowers, later renamed Provide Commerce, Inc., went public on NASDAQ as PRVD on December 17, 2003. In 2005 Provide Commerce was acquired by media conglomerate Liberty Media Corporation for $477 million.

During his tenure in Congress, Polis was among the wealthiest members of Congress, with a net worth estimated at over $300 million.

Personal life

Polis and his husband, Marlon Reis, have a son and a daughter. Reis uses the title First Gentleman of Colorado.

In his political career, Polis has been an advocate for LGBTQ issues and the LGBTQ community.