Chen Yizhou is a pioneer of the Internet industry in China.

Chen Yizhou is the founder of Renren, a social networking website and China's answer to Facebook. He is a pioneer of the Internet industry in China. Chen obtained his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Delaware, his master's in engineering from MIT, and an MBA from Stanford University.

Before founding Renren, he was the co-founder, chairman of the board of directors, and chief financial officer of ChinaRen.com, a popular social network website boasting the largest traffic volume back in 1999.

ChinaRen was acquired by Sohu in 2000. Following the acquisition, Chen served as deputy director general of Sohu.