American entrepreneur Bill Zanker is best known as the founder of The Learning Annex. It is a private continuing adult education school based in New York, founded in 1980 in his studio apartment with an initial investment of only $5,000. It is now considered the largest adult education company in North America.

Zanker sold his interests in the company in 1991 and continued as its consultant until 1997. In the same year, he purchased the New York Learning Annex and helped acquire the Canadian Learning Annex in partnership with the California Learning Annex owners.

In December 2001, Bill Zanker bought out all of his partners and became the sole owner of all Learning Annex properties. He was responsible for helping the company grow from $5.5 million to $137 million in just a period of four years. It was featured as one of INC Magazine’s “Fastest Growing Companies” for two consecutive years.

In 1993, Mr. Bill Zanker founded a chain of stress reduction stores called The Great American BackRub, then sold it to The Barclay Group in 1997. He also started BrainFuel.com, one of the first internet-based eLearning companies and sold it later in 1999 for $9 million. By 2007, he started a second education website, OneMinuteU, which is focused on video sharing. Users can post videos which can teach the viewer and must be only one minute long. In the same year, he co-authored a New York Times Best Selling book called Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life with Donald Trump.

Zanker grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA, and he attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then went to The New School, where he got a master's degree in film.