Michael Gorton

With all of the conversations about AI and other fast paced advances, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we have had other groundbreaking innovations that seemed far reaching at first, but now seem like they have been with us forever. Sometimes it’s worth listening to the stories of entrepreneurial disruption to appreciate what can be learned from doers and doubters, mistakes and successes.

Michael Gorton is best known as being a serial entrepreneur, but that title does not do him justice. With degrees in Physics, Engineering and Law, there is no limit to his curiosity. After working ten years as an engineer in corporate America, he founded 15 different companies including Internet Global, Palo Duro Records and Teladoc, now one of the world’s largest telemedicine companies. His forward-facing vision and expertise led him to being one of the pioneers of telemedicine and digital health, which is becoming a half-TRILLION dollar industry. In 2022 he joined with Jay Sanders, “The Father of Telemedicine,” to write Digital medical Home which details the harrowing tales of the history of telemedicine, something we all now take for granted.

An accomplished author, Gorton has dabbled in both fiction and nonfiction, recently writing Tachyon Tunnel, a science fiction book and Calamistunity, The Secret to Success, a book on how to turn calamity and mistakes into opportunity. His first business book was Broken Handoff, an amalgamation of three decades as an entrepreneur developing companies which was named the #1 M&A book in 2019 by Book Authority and even landed on Amazon’s Top 10 chart. His fourth novel, Forefathers & Founders reached the #1 slot on the Historical Fiction Chart. A prolific writer, he has authored articles on a wide range of topics including the internet, power systems, healthcare, telemedicine, astronomy and much more.

Gorton is now an in-demand speaker on the topics of innovation and entrepreneurial disruption and has delivered over 100 keynotes in the past two years alone. He has also won the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year award, named a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, a Future 50 Disruptor and more.

In his “spare” time, Gorton is a runner, Second Degree Black Belt in Kenpo and a mountain climber who has so far scaled the highest point of elevation in 43 states.