Rebecca Fannin is a special contributor to CNBC, a media founder, and the author of four well-received business books (Silicon Dragon, Startup Asia, Tech Titans of China, and most recently, Silicon Heartland-Transforming the Midwest from Rust Belt to Tech Belt).
At CNBC, she writes regular features and profiles leading tech innovators for the annual Top 50 Disruptors special report. Previously, Rebecca was a weekly columnist for 10 years at Forbes, where she also contributed to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. During the height of the dotcom boom, Rebecca was international news editor at leading Silicon Valley publication Red Herring.

Venturing to Asia’s emerging markets in 2002, she was one of the first American journalists chronicling China’s entrepreneurial rise. In 2010, inspired by the entrepreneurs she has met, she formed Silicon Dragon Ventures, which publishes an e-newsletter, hosts events, and produces an online show, Ask A VC. Her work also includes thought leadership reports, and freelance articles for Harvard Business Review, Inc., CEO, and Worth.
A public speaker and media commentator, Rebecca has appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNN and NBC, and her insights have been featured in Time and The New York Times. She has spoken at many forums, including at the Brookings Institution, Asia Society, City Club of Cleveland, and the SXSW festival. Additionally, Rebecca has lectured at Harvard, Purdue, Oxford, and CMU, among others, and has provided expert testimony to Congress.

Rebecca grew up in southeastern Ohio as one of four siblings, her father a history professor and her mother a kindergarten teacher. Graduating from Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism, she won a Dow Jones editorial fellowship and interned as a copy editor at Dayton’s morning newspaper. She resides today in New York City and Silicon Valley, and travels frequently to do grass-roots reporting and discover the next, new thing.