Gregory Sullivan

Entrepreneur, Journalist, Lawyer, Philanthropist, Single, World traveler

I started my career as a corporate securities attorney and later an investment banker before launching a couple of successful entrepreneurial ventures. In 1989, I started a business designing and manufacturing international arcade games, including the world’s largest selling coin-operated basketball game. After selling that company, I was President and an owner of a car retailing and finance company, growing it into a $750-million operation with 76 dealerships across the country. After selling my interest in that business in 2006, I began traveling the globe, searching for my next entrepreneurial opportunity. While on a trip to India, my business partner, Joe Diaz, and I realized that there was no media voice for cultural explorers, those seeking to broaden themselves by going beyond the typical tourist haunts and connecting deeply with local people and places. Thus was born the inspiration to launch AFAR Media, a media company focused on experiential travel that helps people experience every destination as local residents do.

Travel. Ethics. Friends. Family. Having fun along the way.

I believe evolution is not necessarily confined to biology. I think humans are evolving ethically as well. And I think travel accelerates the rate of ethical evolution in a positive way. As we are exposed to different cultures, circumstances, moral views and applications of moral views, we are able to better evaluate and modify our ethical beliefs.

I've been to two TED Globals, and this is my first TED in Long Beach