Michael Moritz

Founded

Moritz co-founded Technologic Partners, a technology newsletter and conference company, after leaving Time. Moritz helped launch Sequoia Heritage, a wealth-management fund, in 2010 with colleague Doug Leone. Moritz founded Crankstart, a San Francisco-based nonprofit foundation, in 2005. Moritz funds the San Francisco Standard, a for-profit San Francisco news website.

Education

Studied at Christ Church, Oxford (Bachelor's, History) Studied at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA, 1978) Studied at Howardian High School

Charities

Moritz is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, committing to give away at least 50% of his wealth. Moritz and his wife donated US$50 million to Christ Church, his Oxford college, in June 2008. Moritz donated £75m to Oxford University in July 2012 to fund scholarships for students from low-income families. Moritz gave $5 million for the Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program in February 2013. Moritz and his wife gave $30 million to UCSF in September 2013 to create the UCSF Discovery Fellows Program.

Awards

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. Moritz received an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in November 2014. Moritz was awarded an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University in July 2010. Moritz was honoured as a fellow of Aberystwyth University in July 2014. Moritz was named to the 2007 TIME 100. TIME selected Moritz for its 2007 list of influential people; Forbes ranked him first on the Midas List in 2006 and 2007. These are editorial recognitions, not audited measures of individual returns.

Family

Moritz lives in San Francisco with his wife, American novelist and sculptor Harriet Heyman, and their two sons. Moritz was born in Cardiff, Wales, to a Jewish family; his father Ludwig Alfred Moritz was a professor of Classics at Cardiff University.

More

Moritz disclosed in 2012 that he had been diagnosed with a rare, incurable medical condition, later described as a rare form of blood cancer. Born September 12, 1954 in Cardiff. His parents, Alfred/Ludwig Moritz and Doris Rath Moritz, were German-Jewish child refugees; his father became a Cardiff classics professor and university vice-principal. Moritz's 2026 memoir reconstructs relatives' persecution and murder under Nazism. Moritz says Oxford tutorials and journalism trained him to enter unfamiliar subjects, gather facts quickly, distill them and decide before certainty—skills he later applied to venture investing. While reporting Apple's early years, Moritz received unusual access. The critical January 1983 Time profile, reported by Moritz but written by Jay Cocks, angered Jobs and ended their relationship. Moritz later said he regretted that they never reconciled; his 1984 book was independent rather than an authorized biography. Moritz and Doug Leone succeeded Don Valentine in 1995/1996 and co-led Sequoia. Moritz helped extend the firm's approach to China, India and Israel and helped form its growth, Heritage and public-markets initiatives; regional portfolios are institutional, not automatically Moritz-led deals. He stepped back from day-to-day Sequoia management in 2012 after disclosing a rare, incurable but unspecified medical condition. Doug Leone became sole leader; Moritz remained chairman, partner and investor. No diagnosis is inferred. Left Sequoia Capital effective July 19, 2023 after nearly 38 years to deepen his HRTG/Sequoia Heritage advisory work. A few Sequoia board seats were to transition gradually rather than ending immediately. A Stanford teaching case records Sequoia's April 1995 offer of $1 million for 25% at a $4 million valuation and Moritz's 24-hour deadline. Other secondary accounts report $975,000 and 32%; these figures are not collapsed. Yahoo went public in 1996. Moritz joined Google's board in May 1999 when Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins invested $25 million collectively, commonly reported as $12.5 million each. This was a Sequoia fund investment co-led across firms, not a personal Moritz check. Moritz joined X.com's board in 1999, helped bridge the 2000 X.com-Confinity merger and remained on the combined board. Participant history says PayPal rejected an earlier eBay offer, completed its February 2002 IPO and accepted a $1.5 billion acquisition later that year. Moritz called Webvan Sequoia's worst investment. Fortune reported Sequoia invested $53.5 million from 1997-1999 before the 2001 bankruptcy. He drew lessons about capital intensity, premature geographic rollout and trying to change consumer behavior before a local formula worked. Moritz acknowledged eToys as another money-losing dot-com investment and said the period caused him to set aside some of Valentine's margin and capital-efficiency rules. Exact Sequoia loss and Moritz's personal economics are not public. Moritz has publicly regretted passing on Netflix when it was a mail-order DVD business and said he initially imagined Uber as no more than a high-end limousine service. Neither is classified as a Moritz investment. During a 2016 activist proxy fight, Moritz publicly defended Green Dot management and criticized Harvest Capital. He and Timothy Greenleaf resigned effective May 22, immediately before the annual meeting. The filing records departure but does not establish misconduct. Moritz championed Fidji Simo for CEO in 2021. Later reporting described tension with founder Apoorva Mehta over IPO timing; Mehta became executive chair and left the board at the 2023 IPO. The reporting does not by itself prove Moritz forced either move. In February 2024 a Sequoia representative sought Moritz's removal as Klarna chair amid shareholder-agreement and board disputes. Sequoia withdrew the request after a fuller assessment, apologized, stated support for him and changed its own board representative. Moritz remained chair through the IPO. Asked about Sequoia's lack of women investing partners, Moritz cited a pipeline problem and said the firm would not lower standards. The framing drew substantial criticism for implying a diversity trade-off. He clarified that many remarkable women would flourish in venture and said Sequoia was working to find them. Record-based reporting identifies Moritz as a major donor to Democratic and anti-Trump efforts, including $7.8 million in the 2024 cycle. He urged President Biden to leave the race, then publicly criticized technology leaders supporting Donald Trump. Donations and columns are personal acts, not Sequoia or Crankstart investment positions. Moritz has funded TogetherSF/Action, local ballot measures and the for-profit San Francisco Standard while Crankstart grants heavily in the Bay Area. Supporters emphasize government effectiveness and revived local journalism; critics question concentrated donor influence and potential conflicts. Standard journalists report no direct editorial constraint and the outlet publishes an ethics policy. Moritz is one of several personal backers of California Forever's proposed Solano County development. Secretive early land purchases, lawsuits and development impacts drew resident and official criticism; inclusion records his backing, not agreement with every project action.

From Michael's own website — common ground for a warm intro.

Intro paths

Co-founders at TrialSpark

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Linhao ZhangCo-Founder

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Benjamine LiuExecutive Officer, Director

Intro paths

Co-founders at Maplebear Inc.

Intro paths

Co-founders at Stripe

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John CollisonCo-founder & President

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Patrick CollisonCo-founder & CEO