Patrick McGovern

Patrick McGovern, the founder and CEO of International Data Group, died on March 19 at the age of 76. No cause of death was immediately given, out of respect for the family's privacy. A construction manager's son, he invented an unbeatable algorithm for tic-tac-toe that won him a scholarship to MIT. He apparently helped pay for school by editing a Boston-based computer magazine Computers and Automation, the first U.S. computer magazine He founded IDG in 1964 with $5,000 from selling his car. Today the company, which has revenues of $3.55 billion, publishes 200 magazines, operates 460 websites and produces 700 events worldwide, including Macworld. Read Less