Allison Huynh

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Alison Huynh
Nationality USA
Other names Allison Hassan
Occupation computer scientist
Known for entrepeneur
Spouse Scott Hassan

Alison Huynh is an American computer scientist and entrepeneur.[1][2][3]

Huynh's family were refugees from Vietnam. She attended prestigious Stanford University on a scholarship.[2][3] She took time off her studies when there was a wild demand for skilled computer programmers, shortly before the dot-com-boom went bust. In 2000 she met Scott Hassan, another Stanford alumnus, and the pair married in December 2001.

Accounts as to which partner provided the primary income in the earliest years of their marriage differ, and became a matter of dispute during their long and acrimonious divorce, which Hassan initiated in 2013, and which was still in dispute in 2021.[2][3]

Huynh had three children, and spent time as the primary care-giver.[2][3]

Scott Hassan was the primary owner of Willow Garage, and its successor Suitable Technologies.[4] The firm's primary product was a remote control robot, called a Beam, that was equipped with both tracks, for rolling around, a webcam, and speakers and a video display. A user who wanted to interact with individuals at a remote location would login to a remote beam, which would project his or her voice, and display his or her face, in real time, as the user sent it traveling to visit colleagues. While the idea of the beam was praised, this was not matched by sales - only 7,000 units were sold.

Huynh voiced concerns when Hassan tried to sell the company for $800,000, asserting it was worth much more.[4] She voiced the concern that Hassan was so angry over the divorce he was disposing of assets he would be obliged to share with her for far less than they were actually worth. After she voiced her concerns Hassan resigned and turned the company over to a bankruptcy trustee. Financial commentators noted that Hassan was in the unusual situation of being both Suitable Technologies' primary debtor and its primary creditor. As its primary owner he was the primary debtor. On the other hand shell companies he also owned had provided the loans that financed its growth, so he could be said to owe that money to himself.

References

  1. Denise Restauri (2015-01-05). "What It's Like Being A Woman Who's Building A Dream World In Silicon Valley". Forbes magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-08-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210828111839/https://www.forbes.com/simple-data/native-ad/?feedId=60ddf8403ecf89003cdab037&pos=ntv-content. Retrieved 2021-08-28. "I built my entire company, a massive code base, got investors from Silicon Valley to put money into the company and yet there are posts out there that say I’m a fake gamer girl, or MyDream isn’t a real company." 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Daisuke Wakabayashi (2021-08-20). "Who Gets the L.L.C.? Inside a Silicon Valley Billionaire’s Divorce". The New York Times (Palo Alto, California): p. B1. Archived from the original on 2021-08-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20210820090558/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/technology/Scott-Hassan-Allison-Huynh-divorce.html. Retrieved 2021-08-28. "Mr. Hassan is not a household name, certainly not like Mr. Brin or Larry Page, the men credited with starting Google. But without Mr. Hassan’s contribution, Google may have been nothing more than a computer science project at Stanford University." 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Michael Kaplan (2021-08-20). "Google ‘founder’ admits he created revenge site against estranged wife". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2021-08-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20210820184231/https://nypost.com/2021/08/20/google-founder-created-revenge-site-against-estranged-wife/. Retrieved 2021-08-28. "Scott Hassan, 51, who wrote much of the original code that powers the search giant, is embroiled in a nasty divorce battle that has raged for seven years and involves millions of dollars, claims of treating his children unfairly — and even a shocking online revenge campaign." 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Jillian D'Onfro (2020-02-28). "A Dramatic Legal Battle Between A Wealthy Robotics Founder And His Wife Takes New Twist: Bankruptcy". Forbes magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20210830154825/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jilliandonfro/2020/02/28/suitable-technologies-bankruptcy-filing-scott-hassan-allison-huynh/?sh=6e0cc4e54a4b. Retrieved 2021-08-28. "Suitable’s demise isn’t a typical story of a struggling hardware startup: Its bankruptcy is the latest development in a dramatic legal saga between its founder, Scott Hassan, and his wife, Allison Huynh, who are locked in an on-going, nearly five-year divorce proceeding."