Bobby Bao ‘13 wants to change the world by making an impact on people’s lives
As the co-founder and managing director of Monaco, the pioneering payments and currency platform, Bobby Bao works with bright minds every day to create products that mainstream consumers can use with ease.
“With compliance at our core, we provide high-impact and intuitive financial products to make it simple for everyone to save money and use cryptocurrency around the world,” he said. “I am thrilled that we are introducing something new to the existing cryptocurrency industry and building a company that will last.”
Earlier this year, Bao was named to Forbes’ Asia 30 Under 30 list in the Finance and Venture Capital category. As a key influencer of the future of money in Asia, Bao has played a critical role in overseeing development of Monaco’s corporate strategy, leading fundraising efforts and managing the company’s Asian Pacific approach to drive local adoption.
As an alumnus of the Master of Accounting program at William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, Bao was inspired by his peers’ driven, creative and innovative attitudes, as well as their high levels of academic achievement.
“My personal mission to bring something new to the world was incubated at William & Mary, where I developed skills beyond the financial nature of my degree in accounting,” he said.
Bao cited his time at the Mason School for motivating him to seek the highest levels and to think creatively. A creative attitude was especially important in building a non-traditional financial services company such as Monaco. He believes students come from all over the world to William & Mary to learn from the best and graduate to make positive contributions in their communities, regardless of their fields of study.
Emeritus Professor Hector Guerrero of the Mason School remembers Bao as a dedicated and self-motivated student.
“Over the years, I have had a handful of students that I knew were unstoppable,” Guerrero said. “Bobby is one of them, and he has methodically used every opportunity, professionally and academically, to reach his goal.”
