Douglas Leone Explained

Birth Date:4 July 1957
Birth Place:Genoa, Italy
Education:Cornell University (BS)
Columbia University (MS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS)
Employer:Sequoia Capital
Spouse:Patricia Perkins-Leone
Children:4
Awards:Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy

Douglas M. Leone (born July 4, 1957) is an American billionaire venture capitalist and former managing partner of Sequoia Capital, from which role he stepped aside in 2022 while remaining a general partner.[1] As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$6.1 billion.[2]

Early life

Leone was born July 4, 1957, in Genoa, Italy.[3] His family moved to the United States when Leone was 11 and settled in Mount Vernon, New York. Leone earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1979,[4] a master's in industrial engineering from Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1986,[5] and a master's degree in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1988 as a Sloan Fellow.[6] [7]

Career

Leone began his career in sales and management positions at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Prime Computer.[5] He joined Sequoia Capital in 1988, became a managing partner in 1996, and then the global managing partner in 2012.[8]

In 2017, Forbes named him a top-10 investor in the technology industry in the United States.[9] Leone has been involved in Sequoia investments in numerous companies, including Aruba Networks, Hyperion/Arbor Software, International Network Services, Medallia, Netezza, PlanGrid, Rackspace, RingCentral,and ServiceNow.[10] [11] [12] He also led Sequoia's international expansion into China and India.[13]

In 2017, he was ranked #693 on Forbes list of the World's Billionaires, with a net worth of US$2.9 billion.[14] [15] In 2020, he was named on the Forbes Billionaires list with wealth of US$3.5 billion and ranked #538.[16] His ranking on the list in 2022 was #350, with a net worth of US$6.9 billion.[17]

Leone and his wife donated $100,000 to support President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign,[18] and Leone was appointed to Trump's task force on re-opening the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Washington Post reported that Leone proposed using his connections in the Trump Administration to help smooth the sale of TikTok (in which Sequoia had invested heavily) to a US corporation.[19] Leone renounced his support for Trump following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.[20]

In April 2022, Sequoia announced that Roelof Botha would replace Leone as its senior steward of global brand and operations, effective from July 5, following Leone's 65th birthday. Since then, Leone continues to be a general partner in Sequoia's existing funds.[21] [22]

Leone is a backer of America PAC which supports the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign.[23]

Boards

Leone is a board member for several companies,[24] [25] including ActionIQ,[26] Cyera,[27] Island,[28] Nubank,[29] strongDM,[30] Trade Republic,[24] and Wiz.[31]

Personal life

Leone is married to Patricia Perkins-Leone.[32] The couple has four children, and lives in Atherton, California.[14] They have been seeking to build an oceanfront home in Makena, Maui, Hawaii, but as of November 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled against the development.[32]

In May 2021, Leone was conferred with the Order of the Star of Italy, in the class of Officer (Ufficiale dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia).[33] [34]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sequoia's Doug Leone steps down, making way for new global head Roelof Botha. Natasha. Mascarenhas. Connie Loizos. TechCrunch+. April 4, 2022. August 11, 2022.
  2. Web site: Forbes profile: Douglas Leone . Forbes . 29 August 2022.
  3. Web site: Douglas Leone Story – Bio, Facts, Networth, Family, Auto, Home Famous Capitalists SuccessStory. successstory.com. en. February 23, 2018.
  4. http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/csv/advisor-leone.cfm "Cornell University Alumni"
  5. https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=75135&privcapId=22903, "Executive Profile: Douglas M. Leone"
  6. Web site: Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory . March 26, 2014 . George. Anders . Forbes . August 24, 2016.
  7. http://www.businessinsider.co.id/famous-mit-sloan-business-school-graduates-2014-10/18/#.V3Ku-JMrJyo, "The 25 Most Successful MIT Business School Graduates"
  8. https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-leone-a2714 "Doug Leone"
  9. Web site: Midas List. Forbes. 2018-02-23.
  10. News: Konrad . Alex . April 4, 2022 . VC Heavyweight Sequoia Names Roelof Botha As New Global Leader . Forbes . Leone also set a culture of results at Sequoia – embodied by Botha, he says, but applicable to Leone himself, as the investor led investments in Medallia, RingCentral, ServiceNow and Nubank for Sequoia over the years. . June 28, 2022.
  11. News: 2022 . Douglas Leone . Forbes . Leone guided Sequoia into tech investments including Medallia, Rackspace, RingCentral, ServiceNow and Nubank. . June 28, 2022.
  12. Web site: Mentors: Douglas Leone . Genoa Entrepreneurship School . June 28, 2022.
  13. News: Thorne . James . April 5, 2022 . Timeline: How Sequoia's rainmakers navigated decades of VC highs and lows. PitchBook . Under Leone’s leadership, Sequoia mounted an aggressive expansion into China and India. . June 28, 2022.
  14. Web site: Forbes profile: Douglas Leone . . 17 January 2020.
  15. News: The World's Billionaires. Forbes. 2018-02-23. en.
  16. News: The Richest in 2020. Forbes. 20 July 2020.
  17. News: World Billionaires List: The Richest in 2022. Forbes. 21 July 2022.
  18. Web site: Here Are The Billionaires Who Donated To Donald Trump's 2020 Presidential Campaign . Forbes . 27 March 2024.
  19. News: Washington Post . TikTok's fate was shaped by a 'knockdown, drag-out' Oval Office brawl . August 8, 2020 . Ellen . Nakashima . Elizabeth . Dwoskin . Jeff . Stein . Jay . Greene.
  20. News: Vox . One of Donald Trump's biggest Silicon Valley backers is renouncing his support . January 13, 2021 . Theodore . Schleifer.
  21. News: Konrad . Alex . April 4, 2022 . VC Heavyweight Sequoia Names Roelof Botha As New Global Leader . Forbes . June 28, 2022.
  22. News: Mascarenhas . Natasha . Loizos . Connie . April 4, 2022 . Sequoia's Doug Leone steps down, making way for new global head Roelof Botha. TechCrunch . August 11, 2022 .
  23. Web site: Schwartz . Brian . How an Elon Musk PAC is using voter data to help Trump beat Harris in 2024 election . cnbc.com . CNBC.
  24. Web site: Douglas Leone Overview . PitchBook . June 29, 2022.
  25. Web site: Doug Leone . Slush . June 28, 2022.
  26. News: Haggin . Patience . March 29, 2017 . Sequoia Bets on ActionIQ for Marketers' Data Management Platform. Wall Street Journal . Dow Jones & Company, Inc. . 'We have been inundated with volumes of data,' said Sequoia Managing Partner Doug Leone, who sits on ActionIQ’s board. 'The speed to answers has opened the door to a new set of startups that can solve complex problems really easy, for mere mortals, as they say.' . June 29, 2022.
  27. News: Benmeleh . Yaacov . March 29, 2022 . Sequoia's Leone Says Tech Investors Have Cut Activity . . Leone joined Cyera’s board and expects to remain there for at least a decade, he said. . July 21, 2022.
  28. News: Orbach . Meir . January 1, 2022 . The mysterious Israeli cybersecurity startup that has raised $100 million under the radar. . . Following the rounds, the company added several senior VC executives to its board, including: Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital, Jeff Horing, co-founder and managing director at Insight Partners. Gili Raanan and Ken Fox, founder of Stripes.. June 29, 2022.
  29. News: Pooler . Michael . Megaw . Nicholas . December 9, 2021 . Nubank shares jump on first day of trading in New York. Financial Times . The Colombia-born chief said there were no current plans to enter more countries, although Douglas Leone, a partner at US venture capital firm Sequoia and a member of Nubank’s board, said the bank would eventually look to expand outside of Latin America. . June 29, 2022.
  30. News: October 29, 2020 . strongDM Snares $17M in Series A . VC News Daily . Massinvestor, Inc. . Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, has joined the company's board of directors. . June 29, 2022.
  31. News: Novinson . Michael . December 9, 2020 . Ex-Microsoft Cloud Security Head Debuts Startup Wiz With $100M In Funding . CRN . The Channel Company . Shah, Horing, Sequoia Capital Global Managing Partner Doug Leone and Gili Raanan of Cyberstarts will be joining the Wiz team as board members, according to the company. . June 29, 2022.
  32. Web site: Supreme Court Rejects Takings Claim Of Landowner Against Maui County. Patricia. Tummons. November 1, 2017. environment-hawaii.org. February 1, 2018.
  33. Web site: Leone Dott. Douglas Mauro. Presidenza della Repubblica. May 25, 2021. August 15, 2022.
  34. Web site: BAIA Holiday Aperitivo: Event recap . politicamentecorretto.com. December 7, 2021. August 15, 2022.

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