Ben Nelson

Ben Nelson is the founder and chief executive of Minerva Project, the for-profit company that built Minerva University, and he was president of Snapfish, the online photo service that Hewlett-Packard agreed to buy in March 2005.¹²

Not to be confused with Ben Nelson, the former Democratic governor of Nebraska who served from 1991 to 1999 and was elected to the United States Senate in November 2000.³

Snapfish

Minerva's staff biography of Nelson, captured in 2016, states that he spent more than ten years at Snapfish and that he served as chief executive from 2005 through 2010. The biography states that he began that tenure by "leading the company's sale to Hewlett Packard for $300 million."⁴

On March 22, 2005 Computerworld reported that Hewlett-Packard had agreed to buy the online photo sharing and printing service. The article identifies Nelson as "Snapfish President Ben Nelson will join HP and lead the new division, HP said." It adds: "Terms of the deal were undisclosed."²

Hewlett-Packard's quarterly report for the period ended July 31, 2005 says that in the first nine months of fiscal 2005 HP acquired two companies and increased its ownership in a consolidated subsidiary, and that "the aggregate purchase price for these transactions was approximately $339 million, which includes direct transaction costs." The filing states that the largest of the transactions was "the acquisition of SAC, LLC, doing business as "Snapfish."" The report for the period ended April 30, 2005 gave the aggregate for the first six months as approximately $332 million.⁵⁶

In a release dated December 13, 2005, announcing HP's agreement to acquire the European online photo service PIXACO, Nelson is identified as vice president and general manager of Snapfish, Digital Photography and Entertainment, at HP.⁷

Minerva Project

Minerva Project, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware. Nelson is listed on each of its five Form D notices as an executive officer and as a director. The first, filed April 6, 2012, gives March 26, 2012 as the date of first sale, an offering of $25,000,000, and $16,666,667 sold. It lists Kevin Harvey as a director beside Nelson.¹

The notice filed November 14, 2014 gives October 14, 2014 as the first sale, an offering of $78,600,000 and $45,333,330 sold. It adds Bangxin Zhang as a director.⁸ The notice filed December 5, 2017 gives November 21, 2017 as the first sale, an offering of $75,949,507 and $13,000,104 sold. It adds Philip Lader and Gwynne Shotwell as directors.⁹ The notice filed July 12, 2019 gives June 28, 2019 as the first sale, an offering of $7,671,644, all of it sold. It lists Rong Luo, Yiming Zhang and Wendy Kopp as directors.¹⁰ The notice filed September 2, 2022 gives August 18, 2022 as the first sale, an offering of $16,240,000 and $3,065,519 sold. It lists Alex Peng as a director.¹¹

On October 15, 2014 Minerva announced the first of two closes of a Series B round of $70 million, led by TAL Education Group, ZhenFund and Yongjin Group, with Benchmark Capital returning. In the release Nelson, then identified as founder, chairman and chief executive, said: "Bringing together partners for this round of funding that include one of the most respected, top quality, and innovative education companies with TAL and the most forward thinking technology investors with Benchmark, ZhenFund and Yongjin, is a powerful combination committing to Minerva's next stage of development."¹² The release states: "A representative from TAL will sit on the Minerva Project's Board, joining Nelson and Kevin Harvey, general partner at Benchmark Capital." It says that Nelson would appoint two further board members at a later date.¹²

In July 2019 Minerva announced a $57 million Series C led by ByteDance. In reporting on the round, EdSurge quoted Nelson: "There is a greater appreciation of the potential of education in Asia." The report states that the for-profit company had funded the nonprofit Minerva Schools at KGI to that point, that it would provide no additional funds to them, and that the schools were looking to raise $50 million separately.¹³

Minerva University

The Form 990 filings of Minerva University (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 46-2589747) list Nelson among its officers for the fiscal years ending June 2020 through June 2024, with the title "Founder & Director" in three filings and "Founder/director" in two. Each entry shows $0 compensation.¹⁴

Minerva's trustees page, captured on October 1, 2023, lists Nelson as "Founder and Board Member."¹⁵

Minerva Schools at KGI, the program that began under an arrangement with Keck Graduate Institute in 2013, became Minerva University in 2021. The Keck Graduate Institute announced on August 2, 2021 that Minerva University, formerly the Minerva Schools at KGI, had gained accreditation.¹⁶ The accreditation page of Minerva University states that the Western Association of Schools and Colleges granted it initial accreditation in June 2021 as a freestanding, independent institution.¹⁷

Unit 8200 admissions partnership

A page on Minerva's admissions site, captured on September 21, 2020, is headed "Partner: IDF 8200." It states that "IDF unit 8200 alumni have the mature perspective and technological experience to both benefit from and contribute to Minerva's diverse undergraduate experience."¹⁸ The page is published under the company's name and carries no statement attributed to Nelson.

Jeffrey Epstein

Nelson's name appears in the scheduling records of Jeffrey Epstein. The schedule for Friday, February 22, 2013 lists "12:00pm Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator Bob Kerrey."¹⁹ The previous day Stephen Kosslyn had written to Epstein's scheduler: "Ben wants to bring Senator Bob Kerrey with him. Would that be OK with JEE?"²⁰ An undated company overview in the Epstein files states that "Minerva was founded by CEO Ben Nelson in 2011 and received a $25 million seed".²¹ The rest of the correspondence between Epstein and Minerva is set out on the Minerva Project page.

Education and early career

The Minerva biography states that Nelson received a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he later chaired the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, which the biography describes as "the oldest and only non-elected student government body at the University of Pennsylvania."⁴

The Daily Pennsylvanian reported on January 23, 1995 that "Wharton sophomore Ben Nelson" was a member-at-large of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education steering committee.²² On January 22, 1997 the paper reported that "outgoing chairman and Wharton senior Ben Nelson said he is pleased to step down from his post and let Silverman take over."²³

Before joining Snapfish, the Minerva biography states, Nelson was president and chief executive of Community Ventures, "a network of locally branded portals for American communities."⁴