Michael Moritz

Sir Michael Jonathan Moritz Template:Post-nominals (born 12 September 1954)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a Welsh billionaire venture capitalist, philanthropist, author, and former journalist. Moritz works for Sequoia Capital, wrote the first history of Apple Inc., The Little Kingdom, and authored Going for Broke: Lee Iacocca's Battle to Save Chrysler.<ref>Moritz, Michael, and Barrett Seaman. Going for Broke: Lee Iacocca's Battle to Save Chrysler. Doubleday, 1984.</ref> Previously, Moritz was a staff writer at Time magazine and a member of the board of directors of Google.<ref>"Michael Moritz Will Not Seek Re-Election to Google's Board of Directors", Google press release, 22 March 2007.</ref> He studied at the University of Oxford and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and went on to found Technologic Partners before becoming a venture capitalist in the 1980s. Moritz was named as the No. 1 venture capitalist on the Forbes Midas List in 2006 and 2007.<ref name="forbes midas" />

Early life and education

Michael Jonathan Moritz was born to a Jewish family<ref>"Jewish billionaire Michael Moritz gives $115 million to Oxford – Funding a scholarship program in honor of his father who escaped Nazi Germany and studied at Oxford with similar financial assistance", Times of Israel, 16 July 2012.</ref> in Cardiff, Wales, on 12 September 1954. His father, Ludwig Alfred Moritz (1921–2003), was a Jew who fled Nazi Germany. A professor of Classics at Cardiff University, in the 1970s, he became its Vice Principal (Administration).<ref>Personal knowledge of the editor, who worked with Alfred Moritz in the Registry of Cardiff University</ref> His mother, Doris (née Rath; 1924–2019), also fled Nazi Germany. Moritz attended Howardian High School in Cardiff.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Moritz earned a bachelor's degree in history at Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1978, an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as a Thouron scholar.<ref name="linkedin"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

Journalist

Moritz first worked for many years as a journalist. In the early 1980s, when he was a reporter for Time, Steve Jobs contracted him to document the development of the Mac for a book he was writing about Apple.<ref name="folk" /> According to Andy Hertzfeld, in response to the fact that a history of another computer company had been published a year earlier, Jobs said: "Mike's going to be our historian." As he was close in age to many on the development team, he seemed to be a good choice.<ref name="folk"/>

By late 1982, Moritz was TimeTemplate:'s San Francisco Bureau Chief and working on the special Time Person of the Year issue, which was initially supposed to be about Jobs. His research included a lengthy interview with Jobs' high school girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan, in which she discussed the history of their child, Lisa.<ref>Cocks Jay. Reported by Michael Moritz. "The Updated Book of Jobs" in Machine of the Year: The Computer Moves in. Time, 3 January 1983.</ref> Moritz's follow-up interview with Jobs on the subject led to denial of paternity on his part.<ref name="machineofthe year1">Cocks Jay. Reported by Michael Moritz. "The Updated Book of Jobs" in Machine of the Year: The Computer Moves in. Time, 3 January 1983:27.</ref><ref name=bite /><ref name="JobsBio1" /> The issue also contained negative commentary on Jobs from other Apple employees.<ref name="folk"/> The special issue was renamed Machine of the Year prior to publication,<ref name=bite/><ref name="JobsBio1"/> celebrated The Computer<ref name="folk"/> and declared that "it would have been possible to single out as Man of the Year one of the engineers or entrepreneurs who masterminded this technological revolution, but no one person has clearly dominated those turbulent events. More important, such a selection would obscure the main point. TIME's Man of the Year for 1982, the greatest influence for good or evil, is not a man at all. It is a machine: the computer."<ref name="folk"/> Jobs cut off all ties with Moritz after the issue was published and threatened to fire anyone who communicated with him.<ref name="folk"/> According to Hertzfeld, "some of us talked with Mike again surreptitiously, as he was putting the finishing touches on his book around the time of the Mac introduction" and the resulting text, The Little Kingdom: the Private Story of Apple Computer, "remains one of the best books about Apple Computer ever written".<ref name="folk"/>

In 2009, 25 years after The Little Kingdom, Moritz published a revised and expanded follow-up: Return to the Little Kingdom: How Apple and Steve Jobs Changed the World.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the prologue to Return to the Little Kingdom, Moritz states that he was as incensed as Jobs was about the Time Magazine special issue:

Steve rightly took umbrage over his portrayal and what he saw as a grotesque betrayal of confidences, while I was equally distraught by the way in which material I had arduously gathered for a book about Apple was siphoned, filtered, and poisoned with a gossipy benzene by an editor in New York whose regular task was to chronicle the wayward world of rock-and-roll music. Steve made no secret of his anger and left a torrent of messages on the answering machine I kept in my converted earthquake cottage at the foot of San Francisco's Potrero Hill. He, understandably, banished me from Apple and forbade anyone in his orbit to talk to me. The experience made me decide that I would never again work anywhere I could not exert a large amount of control over my own destiny or where I would be paid by the word. I finished my leave [and] published my book, The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer, which I felt, unlike the unfortunate magazine article, presented a balanced portrait of the young Steve Jobs.<ref name=reissue />

In 2015, Moritz collaborated with Alex Ferguson on his book, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United, which draws on Ferguson's experience as a football manager, and provides lessons on achieving business and life success.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Venture capitalist

In 1986, Moritz joined Sequoia Capital after co-authoring Going for Broke: The Chrysler Story with Barrett Seaman, TimeTemplate:'s Detroit bureau chief. After leaving Time, Moritz co-founded Technologic Partners, a technology newsletter and conference company.<ref name="linkedin"/>

His internet company investments include Google, Yahoo!, Skyscanner, PayPal, Webvan, YouTube, eToys, and Zappos.<ref name="observer" /> He currently sits on the boards of 24/7 Customer, Earth Networks, Gamefly, HealthCentral, Green Dot Corporation, Klarna, Kayak.com, LinkedIn, Stripe and PopSugar. 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Google was one of several co-investments with John Doerr of rival venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,<ref>"Google Receives $25 Million in Equity Funding", Google press release, 7 June 1999.</ref> and the initial public offering of the company in 2004 made Moritz one of Wales' richest men.<ref name="bbc" /> His investment in Google helped him achieve the number-one listing in ForbesTemplate:' "Midas List" of the top dealmakers in the technology industry in 2006 and 2007,<ref name="forbes midas" /> and a place on the 2007 "TIME 100".<ref>"Builders & Titans: Michael Moritz", Eric Schmidt, TIME, May 2007</ref> He ranked number two on the Midas List for 2008<ref>"#2 Michael Moritz", Forbes.com Midas List 2008, 24 January 2008.</ref> and 2009.<ref>"#2 Michael Moritz", Forbes.com Midas List 2009, 29 January 2009.</ref>

In July 2023, Moritz stepped down from Sequoia after nearly four decades. He remains on the boards of Stripe, Klarna and Instacart, but Sequoia said that those seats would be replaced over time. Moritz announced that he would focus on Sequoia Heritage—a wealth-management fund that he helped launch, now independent of Sequoia Capital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

San Francisco Standard

The San Francisco Standard is a for-profit San Francisco-centric news web site, funded by Michael Moritz, with offices in the Mission District, using Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.<ref name="sfstandard.com-about">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="48hills-SF-Standard">Template:Cite news</ref> Griffin Gaffney is the CEO of the SF Standard<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="sfstandard-staff">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as co-founder of Here/Say Media and TogetherSF, Moritz-funded 501(c)4 organizations.<ref name="vox.com/recode-crankstart">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="linkedin-griffingaffney">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="missionlocal-Selig-here-say-media">Template:Cite news</ref> Griffin Gaffney is also a co-founder of PossibleSF.<ref name="possiblesf.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="bloomberg-Lauerman-Gaffney">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Griffin Gaffney (Social Studies 99), "The normal gay male: Understanding the same-sex orientation disclosure." Harvard University (2013).</ref>

Honours

In July 2010, Moritz was awarded an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University,<ref>[1]Template:Dead link, Cardiff University Fellows 2010</ref> where his father Alfred had previously been Vice-Principal and Professor of Classics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In July 2014 he was honoured as a fellow of Aberystwyth University.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In November 2014, Moritz was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

Personal life

Moritz lives in San Francisco with his wife, American novelist Harriet Heyman, and their two children.<ref name=linkedin/><ref name="bbc"/>

In May 2012, Moritz announced that he had been 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Philanthropy and political involvement

Moritz is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charitable causes.<ref>Jewish Voice New York: "Jewish Billionaires Join Group Pledging Majority of Their Wealth to Charity" by Sholom Schreiber 25 April 2005</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In June 2008, Moritz and his wife announced a donation of US$50 million to Christ Church, his Oxford college, the largest single donation in the college's history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In July 2012, it was announced that Moritz had donated £75m to Oxford University to provide £11,000 scholarships to students from families with an annual income below £16,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The donation is the largest financial donation to an undergraduate university in European history.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In February 2013 he gave $5 million for Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In September 2013 he and his wife gave $30 million to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to create the UCSF Discovery Fellows Program, the largest endowed programme for PhD students in the history of the University of California; UCSF will raise $30 million in matching funds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In February 2016 he and his wife gave $50 million to the University of Chicago (UC), benefiting the Odyssey programme, which supports lower-income students with outstanding potential; UC will raise $50 million in matching funds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2016, The Guardian reported that Michael Moritz "donated $49,999 to a divisive ballot measure intended to clear San Francisco's streets of homeless encampments, according to campaign filings".<ref name=wong>Template:Cite news</ref> Moritz later wrote an Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal opposing a homelessness funding measure.<ref name=prop_c>Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2018, Moritz donated $20 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the largest donation the organization has received.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He donated to the Lincoln Project, a Republican-led super PAC opposing the re-election of Donald Trump and Republican Senators who supported him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> SFGate notes that he also donated $336 million into various political and social causes in San Francisco over three years.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These causes include organizations such as SF Parent Action, which, in 2022, advocated for a recall of members of the city's school board, and also TogetherSF Action, which is known for ads critical of San Francisco's drug policies that appeared all over the city in May 2023.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2024 Moritz and TogetherSF backed the mayoral campaign of Mark Farrell.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Crankstart

In 2019, it was announced that his and his wife's charity Crankstart would be sponsoring the Booker Prize for novelists for the next five years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The couple did not want the name of their charity to be attached to the prize, which subsequently reverted to its old name of the Booker Prize.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Sequoia Capital Website