The judges were impressed by the spectacular growth in the number of people using Min.us, the service he co-founded with Carl Hu, that lets people share files.

FORBES: Min.us Makes File Sharing A Snap

"Without those promises, he would be grabbed and taken away as soon as he left the embassy, " Mr. Hu said.

WSJ: Escape Poses New Riddle for U.S., China

Zhu "knows the trip won't be easy, but he is amazingly calm, " says Fred Hu, head of Asia Economic Research for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong.

CNN: Red star

"Zhu said he knows the trip won't be easy, but he is amazingly calm, " says Fred Hu, head of Asia economic research for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong and a former student of Zhu's at Qinghua.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia