In 1996 with the support of MIT Media Lab director Nicholas Negroponte and MIT Sloan School of Management professor Edward B. Roberts, as well as venture capital, Charles Zhang founded his own company, Internet Technologies China (ITC 爱特信公司).
[2] In May 1997, after meeting Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, Zhang decided to transform ITC and change its name to Sohu.
Zhang managed to successfully conduct four mergers with other Chinese Internet companies to raise capital.
[6] During the dotcom crash in the early 2000s, Sohu's stock dropped below $1 USD, many board members and investors wanted to replace Zhang.
[7] Today, Sohu is one of the leading Chinese Internet stocks, with a market value of around 2 billion dollars at around $45 USD per share.