Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, lobbyist and political commentator. He founded the political party and action committee Forward Party in 2021, for which he serves as co-chair alongside former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Michael S. Willner.

The son of Taiwanese American immigrants, Yang was born and raised in New York state. He graduated from Brown University and Columbia Law School, and was a lawyer and entrepreneur before being a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. His signature policy, a monthly universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000, was intended to offset job displacement by automation.

Media outlets described Yang as both a dark horse and a novelty candidate during the 2020 election cycle, rising from relatively unknown to a major competitor in the race. Yang qualified for and participated in seven of the first eight Democratic debates. His supporters, colloquially known as the "Yang Gang", included several high-profile public figures and celebrities. Yang suspended his campaign on February 11, 2020, shortly after the New Hampshire primary. Afterward, he joined CNN as a political commentator, created the political nonprofit organization Humanity Forward, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York City in the 2021 Democratic primaries.

On October 4, 2021, Andrew Yang left the Democratic Party to become an independent politician, faulting what he characterized as a system stuck in increasing polarization and saying that he is "more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it". Later in October 2021, Yang founded the Forward Party, a centrist political party with a stated goal of providing an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties.