John Doerr - A World Renowned Venture Capitalist
L. John Doerr was born on June 29, 1951, in St. Louis, Missouri. He is chairman of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), one of the most successful venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. He is known for his support of the world’s most remarkable entrepreneurs, and for directing venture capital funding to some of the world’s most successful technology companies; as well as spearheading Silicon Valley’s cleantech movement.
Net Worth
Global rank
* Stats taken from Forbes.com. Updated on 01/06/24
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About John Doerr
Doerr has an estimated net worth of $13.3B as of May 2024, according to Forbes Magazine, and is listed at number 147 in the World Billionaires List. Doerr is author of two New York Times bestsellers, “Measure What Matters” and “Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving our Climate Crisis Now”. Outside of KPCB, Doerr focuses his attention on social entrepreneurs, handling systemic issues across climate, education, and public health, as well as serving on the Economic Recovery Board of President Barack Obama.
Location
By 1976, John Doerr completed a BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rice University, as well as a MBA from Harvard Business School (like many other leading investors listed on Investor’s Globe). Doerr began his professional career at Intel Corporation in 1974, coinciding with the groundbreaking development of the 8080 8-bit microprocessor. In 1980, he joined KPCB where he came to be one of the world’s most accomplished venture capitalists.
Remarkable Investments
Doerr proved instrumental to KPCB leading them to some of their most successful investments such as Google, Amazon, Intuit,, and Slack – as well as a $150 million investment in Twitter. Doerr gained the reputation of being a “king-maker” in the field of venture capitalism due to his ability to recognize potential; l He has backed world recognized entrepreneurs such as Eric Schimidt, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, Scott Cook, Bill Campbell, and Mark Pincus.
Personal Ventures and Support
In addition to his outstanding work in KPCB, John Doerr is a significant contributor to the field of public education and health. In support of educational initiatives, Doerr backs educational technological startups, such as Coursera and Remind. He also co-founded and is serving on the board of the NewSchool Venture Fund, a nonprofit venture philanthropy firm working to reform public education for low-income children. Doerr also shows support in initiatives that are aimed at improving public health and the environment. Notable examples are TechNet.org, the Climate Reality Project, and ONE.org. The One Campaign, in which John serves as a board member, is a non-profit organization dedicated to fight preventable disease and extreme poverty, particularly in Africa. He also co-chaired California’s proposition 71, which created $3B funding for stem cell therapies research. Overall, ventures sponsored by John are said to have provided over 200,000 new jobs. He is also signed on the Giving Pledge, a donation campaign targeting high-net-worth individuals to donate their fortunes to charitable causes.
Latest News
Since leaving his leadership position at KPCB in 2016, Doerr has primarily focused his investments on climate, education, and public health. He also has been one of the earliest advocates and investors for artificial intelligence (AI) technology, believing it is the next wave of technological advancements. He believes (AI) will not only have an impact in the field of technology but in the spheres of public health, education, and climate.
Doerr’s influence exceeds Silicon Valley, and is shown for his passions for sustainability, education, and health. In 2022 Doerr and his wife worked with Stanford University to launch their first new school in 70 years, the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
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