Michael Moritz

Sir Michael Moritz
Moritz at TechCrunch40, September 2007
Born	1954/1955 (age 58–59)[1] Cardiff, Wales
Residence	San Francisco, California
Ethnicity	Jewish[2]
Citizenship	United States
Education	Christ Church, Oxford Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Occupation	Partner at Sequoia Capital[3]
Net worth	US$ 2.2 billion[1]
Spouse(s)	Married, 2 children

Sir Michael Jonathan Moritz KBE (born 12 September 1954)^[4] is a Welsh venture capitalist with Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park, California in Silicon Valley, a former member of the board of directors of Google,^[5][6] and a philanthropist and writer.

Early life and education

Moritz was born in Cardiff, Wales. He was educated at Howardian High School in Cardiff before moving on to Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in history. In 1978, he received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as a Thouron Scholar.^[5][7]

Career

Moritz joined Sequoia in 1986 after working as a reporter for Time, writing the 1984 book The Little Kingdom: the Private Story of Apple Computer, and co-authoring "Going for Broke: The Chrysler Story" (with Barrett Seaman, TIME's Detroit bureau chief). After leaving Time, Moritz co-founded Technologic Partners, a technology newsletter and conference company.^[5]

His internet company investments include Google, Yahoo!, PayPal, Webvan, YouTube, eToys, and Zappos.^[8] He currently sits on the boards of; 24/7 Customer, Earth Networks, Gamefly, HealthCentral, Green Dot Corporation, Klarna, Kayak.com, LinkedIn, Stripe and Sugar Inc.. Moritz previously served on the boards of A123 Systems, Aricent Group, Atom Entertainment, CenterRun, eGroups, Flextronics, Google, ITA Software, Luxim, PayPal, Plaxo, Pure Digital, Saba Software, Yahoo!, and Zappos.^[9] Google was a rare co-investment with John Doerr of rival venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,^[10] and the initial public offering of the company in 2004 made him one of Wales' richest men.^[11] His investment in Google helped him achieve the number one listing in Forbes' "Midas List" of the top dealmakers in the technology industry in 2006 and 2007,^[12] and a place on the 2007 "TIME 100".^[13] He ranked number 2 on the Midas List for 2008^[14] and 2009.^[15] He is listed by The Sunday Times as having a fortune of UK£558 million (circa US$1.1 billion).^[16]

In 2009, 25 years after "The Little Kingdom," Michael Moritz published a revised and expanded follow-up: "Return to the Little Kingdom: How Apple and Steve Jobs Changed the World" is available from The Overlook Press.^[17]

On 12 July 2010, Michael Moritz was conferred an Honorary Fellowship from Cardiff University,^[18] where his father Alfred had previously been Vice-Principal and Professor of Classics.^[19]

He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.^[5][11] He was a prominent supporter of President Barack Obama's candidacy.

In May 2012 he announced that he was diagnosed with a rare, incurable medical condition and would step back from his day-to-day responsibilities at Sequoia Capital while also being elevated to the position of chairman of the firm.^[20]

Philanthropy

On 18 June 2008, Michael Moritz and his wife, American novelist Harriet Heyman, announced a donation of US$50m to Christ Church, Oxford, his former college, the largest single donation in the college’s history.

On 11 July 2012, it was announced Moritz had donated £75m to Oxford University to support students from families with an income below £16,000 per year.^[21]

Moritz is a signatory of The Giving Pledge committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charitable causes.^[22]

On 13 February 2013 he gave $5 million for Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program.^[23]

On 24 September 2013 he and his wife gave $30 million to UC San Francisco to create the UCSF Discovery Fellows Program, an endowed program for PhD students (UCSF will raise $30 million in matching funds). This program forms the largest endowed program for PhD students in the history of the University of California.^[24]

Moritz was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to promoting British economic interests and philanthropic work.^[25]

References

External links

• Sequoia Capital Website
• Michael Moritz at CrunchBase
• Michael Moritz interviews Marc Andreesen (Netscape, Opsware, Ning), David Filo (Yahoo) and Chad Hurley (YouTube) at TechCrunch40 conference video
• NY Times- C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success
• Business Week- Lessons from a Long-Ball Hitter
• Video of Michael Moritz on growing up in Wales, attending Oxford and working with entrepreneurs

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