Byline: Gil Rudawsky, Rocky Mountain News
Log on to the world's busiest and most popular Web sites, and as the pages appear on the screen, thank Daniel Lewin.
Lewin came up with a complex mathematical algorithm that is used to divert Internet traffic from server to server - preventing an online traffic jam. It is the basis for a company Danny helped found in 1998.
A year later, the company, Akamai, went public. Danny became a billionaire when he was 29.
And, like just about every other technology-based company, Akamai got slammed when the bubble burst as many of its clients got sucked under. The company's stock plunged from $300 a share to less than a buck.
Today, the company is not only surviving, it's thriving. The stock is trading in the $30 range, up from about 75 cents in 2002. It's making a profit for the first time.
Danny's wife, Anne, and his two children own about 10 percent of the company's stock.
"Akamai is a great legacy and its success today has roots with Danny - his vision and ability to motivate people," said co-founder and chief scientist Tom Leighton.
"We are realizing Danny's vision and it would have been rewarding for him to see."
Jonathan Seelig, an Akamai founder who now works as a venture capitalist, said Danny's energy was endless, in whatever he did. That energy has lasted at Akamai.
"The foundation that Danny helped build has proven to be strong," he said. "More importantly, over the years, it has proven itself to work."
Danny, who was born and raised in south Denver before emigrating to Israel with his family, will also be remembered as the first person to die in the 9/11 attacks.
Flight communications show that on Sept. 11, Danny was in seat 9B of American Airlines Flight 11 bound for Los Angeles.
A recording from a flight attendant said that a businessman sitting in 9B was killed after he got out of his seat. Shortly afterwards, the plane slammed into the World Trade Center. Danny's role is outlined briefly in the the 9/11 Commission report.
Friends said that Danny probably knew better than anyone what was taking place, and tried to stop the hijacking. That's because before MIT and Akamai, he served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a member of Sayeret Matkal, a counterterrorism unit. His exploits were legendary.
In one training exercise, his unit was given three days to cross 100 miles in the desert with few provisions. Danny did it twice.
At Danny's funeral, Charles Lewin said his son was the first casualty of the next great war.
At the time, Seelig found the statement disconcerting.
"It's been five years and look at the world today - Iraq, Iran, Lebanon," Seelig said. "Only now do I understand what Charles was saying. It really did set the stage for the next global conflict."
Not a day goes by without Seelig thinking about Danny.
"I think about what I learned from him: to be passionate about what I do," Seelig said. "Danny used to skip into work, and challenge everyone to do a better job."
At the time of his death, Danny and other Akamai founders were in the process of setting up the Akamai Foundation to encourage the study of math.
Not only are underprivileged students given a leg up through the foundation's "Magic of Math" program, successful students are given further encouragement through scholarships.
Shortly after Sept. 11, MIT named a public courtyard in Cambridge the Daniel Lewin Square. Akamai has a portrait of Danny in the main lobby and named its employee of the year award after him.
"He was an amazing human being, and had a tremendous impact on those who knew him," Leighton said. "I still think it pretty shocking even now."
INFOBOX
Daniel Lewin
Born and raised in Denver
Occupation: Co-founder of Akamai Technologies
Family: Wife Anne; sons Eitan and Itamar, of Boston; brothers Michael and Jonathan, of Israel; and parents Peggy and Charles, of Israel.
Died on American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center
Age: 31
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Daniel Lewin
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