Sinan Aral

Sinan Aral holds the David Austin Professorship at MIT, where he directs the Initiative on the Digital Economy. He is also a founding partner at the investment firm Manifest Capital.

Sinan previously acted as Chief Scientist for two start-ups — SocialAmp and Humin — both of which were later acquired by major corporations. He brings his expertise in data analytics and digital networks to the advisory boards of international organizations like the Alan Turing Institute and Brazil’s C6 Bank. Furthermore, he has consulted extensively on data strategy for industry giants such as Microsoft, Facebook, and the New York Times.

Aral’s academic accolades include a Fulbright Scholarship, an NSF CAREER Award, and MIT Sloan’s top teaching honor. He was also recognized globally as a “Top 40 Under 40” business professor. He is also known for his 2018 Science cover story on the viral spread of fake news, and he authored the book The Hype Machine.