#1 L. John Doerr
Mentor and money man to founders of Google, Amazon, Intuit, Sun Microsystems. Determined to win war against global warming. In his arsenal: Amyris (biofuels and malaria drugs); Bloom Energy (solid oxide fuel cells); Miasole (solar panels). Backs companies related to other nightmare scenarios: avian flu, bioterrorism. Wants people to see green tech as savvy venture strategy, not granola: "We are raging capitalists." An avid politico, has campaigned on behalf of education reform, stem cell research. Made best friend Al Gore a KPCB partner.
#2. Michael Moritz
Welsh-born billionaire earned his history degree at Oxford, his fortune in the U.S. Joined Sequoia in 1986 after a brief diversion into journalism. Backed Yahoo, PayPal. Spent $12.5 million for 10% of Google—worth $15 billion today. Less profitable: Atom Entertainment sold to MTV in 2006 for $200 million, took $90 million to get there. Online gift seller RedEnvelope raised $110 million, now worth $33 million on Nasdaq. Sparked gossip when he left Google's board last spring. Member of Forbes 400. <BR>
#3. Ram Sriram
Netscape and Amazon alum stays close to his roots. Founded shopbot Junglee, which Amazon bought for $200 million; invested in ventures started by other Netscapers (Tellme). Made fortune by investing early in Google. Invested in an animation studio in India. Now backing Mint.com (online money management), Cleartrip (India's Orbitz) and Xoom.in (India's Shutterfly).
#4. David Cheriton
Canadian billionaire is tenured computer science professor at Stanford. Some profs write books, this one mints companies. Cofounded Granite Systems (sold to Cisco for $220 million) and Kealia (sold to Sun for $90 million) with Andy Bechtolsheim (see). Helped Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page fund Google. Proud to be frugal: drives a VW van and a Honda. Gave $25 million to the University of Waterloo's computer school.
Estimates every laptop has half a million bugs in it. Determined to exterminate all of them. <BR>
#5. Andreas Von
<BR>The richest guy on the Midas list (he's worth at least $2.3 billion). Cut the first check to Page and Brin. That $200,000 is now worth $2.1 billion. Emigrated from Germany, got M.S. in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon. Cofounded Sun as a doctoral student in computer science at Stanford. After he sold Kealia to Sun, he rejoined the company. <BR>
#6. William Ford
<BR>Banker-turned-investor got six times his investment selling Archipelago Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange. Made seven times his money taking the New York Mercantile Exchange public. Sails, hikes, collects contemporary art. Chairs investment committee for alma mater Amherst College. Past successes: Priceline, E-Trade.
#7. Lawrence Sonsini
<BR>Whispers in the ears of the most powerful execs in Silicon Valley—and now the world. The firm just opened a Shanghai office. Larry gets the biggest deals (Google's IPO, Freescale's buyout) but also deals with the biggest scandals (options back dating, HP's pretexting mess). Joined the firm 41 years ago, made partner in 1970. Reportedly turned down top roles at Silver Lake Partners and the New York Stock Exchange (where he was a director). Classic movie buff.
#2. Michael Moritz
Welsh-born billionaire earned his history degree at Oxford, his fortune in the U.S. Joined Sequoia in 1986 after a brief diversion into journalism. Backed Yahoo, PayPal. Spent $12.5 million for 10% of Google—worth $15 billion today. Less profitable: Atom Entertainment sold to MTV in 2006 for $200 million, took $90 million to get there. Online gift seller RedEnvelope raised $110 million, now worth $33 million on Nasdaq. Sparked gossip when he left Google's board last spring. Member of Forbes 400. <BR>
#3. Ram Sriram
Netscape and Amazon alum stays close to his roots. Founded shopbot Junglee, which Amazon bought for $200 million; invested in ventures started by other Netscapers (Tellme). Made fortune by investing early in Google. Invested in an animation studio in India. Now backing Mint.com (online money management), Cleartrip (India's Orbitz) and Xoom.in (India's Shutterfly).
#4. David Cheriton
Canadian billionaire is tenured computer science professor at Stanford. Some profs write books, this one mints companies. Cofounded Granite Systems (sold to Cisco for $220 million) and Kealia (sold to Sun for $90 million) with Andy Bechtolsheim (see). Helped Stanford students Sergey Brin and Larry Page fund Google. Proud to be frugal: drives a VW van and a Honda. Gave $25 million to the University of Waterloo's computer school.
Estimates every laptop has half a million bugs in it. Determined to exterminate all of them. <BR>
#5. Andreas Von
<BR>The richest guy on the Midas list (he's worth at least $2.3 billion). Cut the first check to Page and Brin. That $200,000 is now worth $2.1 billion. Emigrated from Germany, got M.S. in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon. Cofounded Sun as a doctoral student in computer science at Stanford. After he sold Kealia to Sun, he rejoined the company. <BR>
#6. William Ford
<BR>Banker-turned-investor got six times his investment selling Archipelago Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange. Made seven times his money taking the New York Mercantile Exchange public. Sails, hikes, collects contemporary art. Chairs investment committee for alma mater Amherst College. Past successes: Priceline, E-Trade.
#7. Lawrence Sonsini
<BR>Whispers in the ears of the most powerful execs in Silicon Valley—and now the world. The firm just opened a Shanghai office. Larry gets the biggest deals (Google's IPO, Freescale's buyout) but also deals with the biggest scandals (options back dating, HP's pretexting mess). Joined the firm 41 years ago, made partner in 1970. Reportedly turned down top roles at Silver Lake Partners and the New York Stock Exchange (where he was a director). Classic movie buff.
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