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Michael Moritz
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Michael Moritz
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Sir Michael Jonathan Moritz KBE (born 12 September 1954)[3] 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.[4] Previously, Moritz was a staff writer at Time magazine and a member of the board of directors of Google.[5] 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.[6]

Key Information

Early life and education

[edit]

Michael Jonathan Moritz was born to a Jewish family[7] 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).[8] His mother, Doris (née Rath; 1924–2019), also fled Nazi Germany. Moritz attended Howardian High School in Cardiff.[9]

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.[10][11]

Career

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Journalist

[edit]

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.[12] 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.[12]

By late 1982, Moritz was Time's San Francisco Bureau Chief and working on the special Time Person of the Year issue, which, according to Jobs, was initially supposed to be about him. His research included a lengthy interview with Jobs' high school girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan, in which she discussed the history of their child, Lisa.[13] Moritz's follow-up interview with Jobs on the subject led to denial of paternity on his part.[14][15][16] The issue also contained negative commentary on Jobs from other Apple employees.[12] The special issue was renamed Machine of the Year prior to publication,[15][16] celebrated The Computer[12] 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."[12] Jobs cut off all ties with Moritz after the issue was published and threatened to fire anyone who communicated with him.[12] 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".[12]

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.[17] 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.[18]

Venture capitalist

[edit]

In 1986, Moritz joined Sequoia Capital after co-authoring Going for Broke: The Chrysler Story with Barrett Seaman, Time's Detroit bureau chief. After leaving Time, Moritz co-founded Technologic Partners, a technology newsletter and conference company.[10]

His internet company investments include Google, Yahoo!, Skyscanner, PayPal, Webvan, YouTube, eToys, and Zappos.[19] 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.[20] Google was one of several co-investments with John Doerr of rival venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,[21] and the initial public offering of the company in 2004 made Moritz one of Wales' richest men.[22] His investment in Google helped him achieve the number-one listing in Forbes' "Midas List" of the top dealmakers in the technology industry in 2006 and 2007,[6] and a place on the 2007 "TIME 100".[23] He ranked number two on the Midas List for 2008[24] and 2009.[25]

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.[26][27]

The San Francisco Standard

[edit]

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.[28][29] Griffin Gaffney is the CEO of the SF Standard[30][31] as well as co-founder of Here/Say Media and TogetherSF, Moritz-funded 501(c)4 organizations.[32][33][34] Griffin Gaffney is also a co-founder of PossibleSF.[35][36][37]

Honours

[edit]

In July 2010, Moritz was awarded an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University,[38] where his father Alfred had previously been Vice-Principal and Professor of Classics.[39]

In July 2014, he was honoured as a fellow of Aberystwyth University.[40]

In November 2014, Moritz was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.[41]

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.[42]

Personal life

[edit]

Moritz lives in San Francisco with his wife, American novelist and sculptor Harriet Heyman, and their two sons.[3][22]

In 2006, Moritz discovered he had a genetic abnormality that causes a rare, incurable form of blood cancer.[43] In May 2012, he announced he would step back from his day-to-day responsibilities at Sequoia Capital while also being elevated to the position of chairman.[44]

Philanthropy and political involvement

[edit]

Moritz is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charitable causes.[45][46]

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.[47]

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.[48] The donation is the largest financial donation to an undergraduate university in European history.[49]

In February 2013, he gave $5 million for Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program.[50]

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.[51]

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.[52]

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".[53] Moritz later wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal opposing a homelessness funding measure.[54]

In May 2018, Moritz donated $20 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the largest donation the organization has received.[55]

He donated to the Lincoln Project, a Republican-led super PAC opposing the re-election of Donald Trump and Republican Senators who supported him.[56] SFGate notes that he also donated $336 million into various political and social causes in San Francisco over three years.[57] 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.[57][58]

In 2024 Moritz and TogetherSF backed the mayoral campaign of Mark Farrell.[59]

Crankstart

[edit]

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.[60] 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.[61]

In September 2025, it was announced that Crankstart would give £150 million to the National Gallery London for a new extension, with a further £150 million coming from the Julia Rausing Trust.[62]

Books

[edit]

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.[63] In 2026, Moritz published Ausländer: One Family's Story of Escape and Exile, a memoir detailing his Jewish family's Holocaust tragedies through his late mother's documents.[64][65]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Michael Moritz

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from Grokipedia

Sir Michael Moritz KBE (born 1954) is a Welsh-born American billionaire venture capitalist and philanthropist best known for his 38-year tenure at , where he spearheaded early investments in transformative technology firms including , , and . Educated at (BA) and the (MBA), Moritz began his career as a , serving as bureau chief for Time magazine in , before joining Sequoia in 1986 and rising to partner. His prescient backing of pioneers yielded enormous returns, cementing his reputation as one of Valley's most astute investors and contributing to Sequoia's of over $53 billion in assets. In 2023, Moritz departed Sequoia to concentrate on Sequoia Heritage, the independent $15 billion wealth-management arm he co-founded in 2010, while retaining board seats at high-growth companies like Stripe and . A U.S. citizen residing in , he is married to Harriet Heyman, with whom he has two children. Moritz's emphasizes educational access; he and Heyman donated £75 million to in 2012—the largest gift to the university at the time—to fund scholarships covering tuition and living costs for undergraduates from low-income backgrounds as part of a broader £300 million financial aid initiative. He received a knighthood in 2013 for contributions to charity and .

Early Life and Education

Upbringing in

Michael Moritz was born on September 12, 1954, in , , to Jewish parents Ludwig Alfred Moritz and Doris Rath, both refugees who had fled prior to . His father's escape as a teenager from , followed by resettlement in Britain, exemplified the determination that characterized their household, where survival depended on adaptation rather than reliance on external aid. Raised in post-war Cardiff, a city marked by industrial decline and modest living standards, Moritz attended Howardian High School, an ordinary state comprehensive in the Penylan district that has since been demolished. The school's working-class pupil base exposed him to everyday economic constraints, contrasting with the academic pursuits of his father, who taught classics at after establishing himself post-immigration. The family's refugee origins instilled a pragmatic emphasis on and personal initiative as pathways out of hardship, with Moritz later reflecting on growing up in a home where translated into a focus on self-made achievement over narratives of enduring victimhood. This environment, devoid of extended family ties severed by , reinforced resilience as a core trait, shaping an early worldview attuned to causal effort in overcoming adversity.

Oxford Education

Michael Moritz studied at Christ Church, University of , graduating in 1976. The curriculum during this period emphasized close reading of primary sources, construction of evidence-based arguments, and dissection of causal chains in past events, training students to prioritize verifiable data over interpretive biases. This approach, rooted in the tutorial system's demand for weekly essays and oral defenses, cultivated Moritz's early proficiency in sifting empirical facts from anecdotal or ideologically driven accounts—a skill evident in his later professional evaluations of unproven ventures. Upon completing his degree in 1976, Moritz relocated to the to pursue , leveraging his Oxford-honed analytical framework to assess opportunities in a nascent media landscape. This transatlantic transition marked the application of his undergraduate training to real-world scrutiny, where historical precedents informed judgments on emerging economic and technological shifts rather than reliance on prevailing consensus.

Professional Career

Journalism Career

Moritz joined Time magazine as a reporter shortly after immigrating to the in 1976, marking the start of his professional career focused on and technology. In the early 1980s, he served as the magazine's bureau chief, where he covered the burgeoning ecosystem, including key developments at pioneering tech firms and providing detailed accounts of innovation drivers such as entrepreneurial risk-taking and . His reporting emphasized empirical observations of company internals, drawing from direct interviews and on-site access rather than secondary analyses. During this period, Moritz co-authored Going for Broke: The Chrysler Story with Barrett Seaman, published in 1981, which chronicled Lee Iacocca's efforts to rescue the automaker amid financial crisis through government loans and operational restructuring, based on extensive corporate sourcing. In 1984, he published The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer, an unauthorized history detailing the founding and early growth of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak, derived from over 200 interviews with employees and executives that revealed internal conflicts and product development dynamics. The book offered verifiable insights into Apple's garage origins and the Apple II's market breakthrough, establishing Moritz's reputation for rigorous, fact-based tech narratives. As a Time reporter in the early 1980s, Moritz was contracted by to produce an internal publication documenting the Macintosh project's development team and milestones, granting him unprecedented access to Apple's engineering and design processes. This assignment, involving late-night sessions and confidential materials, underscored how Moritz's journalistic method—prioritizing primary evidence over speculation—fostered deep networks and analytical acuity regarding technological disruption, skills later pivotal in evaluating startup potential.

Venture Capital at Sequoia Capital

Michael Moritz joined in 1986, transitioning from to focus on early-stage investments. Over the next two decades, he became a key partner, leading bets on companies poised for rapid scaling through innovative software and infrastructure. In April 1995, Moritz facilitated Sequoia's $1 million investment for a 25% stake in Yahoo, shortly after its incorporation, capitalizing on the emerging potential of web directories and search. This position generated outsized returns as Yahoo grew into a dominant portal, underscoring Moritz's foresight in backing executable models for user acquisition and monetization. In 1999, he led a $12.5 million Series A investment in , acquiring roughly 10% equity in the search engine startup founded by and ; this yielded over 560 times the initial outlay by the mid-2000s, driven by the company's superior algorithmic efficiency and ad revenue scalability. That same year, Sequoia under Moritz's involvement invested in (via its merger), supporting a payments platform that addressed e-commerce friction and returned billions upon its acquisition in 2002. Moritz's selection process leveraged honed from investigative reporting, favoring founders demonstrating technical depth and relentless execution over speculative trends. He prioritized scalable technologies with defensible moats, such as search algorithms and , rather than incremental improvements. These choices, yielding billions in realized gains, solidified Sequoia's preeminence in venture capital by the early 2010s, with Moritz's portfolio exemplifying high-conviction bets on transformative infrastructure.

Transition to Sequoia Heritage and Post-VC Focus

In 2012, after 26 years as a partner at , Michael Moritz stepped back from day-to-day management responsibilities due to a rare and incurable medical condition, marking an initial pivot away from active venture investing. He continued in a partner capacity focused on select seed and early-stage activities but increasingly directed attention toward long-term . This partial transition culminated in July 2023, when Moritz fully departed after nearly 38 years to concentrate on Sequoia Heritage, the firm's independent $15 billion arm that he co-founded in 2010 for overseeing mature, locked-in portfolio holdings. Sequoia Heritage emphasizes preservation and diversification into a broader array of assets beyond traditional venture-stage tech investments, aligning with Moritz's emphasis on sustaining gains from prior successes such as early stakes in and . By 2025, Moritz's net worth stood at approximately $7.4 billion, primarily derived from and realized returns on these enduring positions rather than ongoing deal origination. The shift freed substantial capacity for higher-impact endeavors outside venture capital's relentless sourcing cycle, including advisory roles and personal initiatives, while underscoring pragmatic considerations of health and finite professional bandwidth at age 70.

Media Ventures

Founding of The San Francisco Standard

Michael Moritz co-founded in 2021 amid concerns over the deterioration of local in , which he described as leaving residents unable to ascertain basic facts about ongoing events and crises in the city. The outlet was established to deliver insightful, data-driven coverage tailored to digital audiences, focusing on verifiable reporting rather than interpretive narratives. Financed personally by Moritz as part of his commitments to initiatives—totaling over $336 million through his Crankstart foundation and the publication itself since 2020—the venture sought to rebuild civic information infrastructure eroded by declining traditional media. The Standard prioritizes empirical analysis of urban decay, including spikes in crime, homelessness, and public drug use, often highlighting quantifiable trends overlooked or downplayed elsewhere. For example, its reporting has detailed San Francisco's overdose , such as the elevated death rates among men born between 1951 and 1970, exceeding national averages in multiple counties. This approach critiques policy outcomes through evidence, like post-2020 increases in fentanyl-related fatalities and departures amid visible street disorder, without endorsing ideological priors. The publication's emphasis on primary data and on-the-ground events positions it as a corrective to mainstream sources, which Moritz and supporters argue have prioritized over straightforward documentation of municipal failures. To staff the effort, Moritz assembled a team of seasoned professionals, including Kevin Delaney, formerly of , and predecessors like Julie Makinen, drawing on expertise from national outlets to ensure rigorous standards. By late 2024, the Standard had attracted over 1 million monthly readers, earned nominations for Online News Association awards, and won EPPY awards for online journalism, reflecting its rapid establishment as a key player in local coverage.

Philanthropy

Crankstart Fund Operations

The Crankstart Foundation, co-founded in 2000 by Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman as a private family foundation headquartered in , manages philanthropic activities with net assets surpassing $4 billion as of recent filings. It operates by evaluating and funding nonprofits through a process that builds confidence in organizational capacity before committing multi-year general operating support, prioritizing sustainability over short-term projects. Grants typically range from $100,000 to $1 million, with larger awards reserved for established priorities, and approximately 60% directed to Bay Area recipients alongside select international efforts. The foundation's grantmaking strategy centers on addressing root causes of societal challenges, with comprising about 40% of allocations to enhance access to effective learning opportunities that foster long-term individual advancement. Additional foci include alleviation via tools for , such as job training with promotion potential and strengthened safety nets for food and health in low-income areas impacted by generational disenfranchisement. This approach favors interventions demonstrably linked to causal improvements in outcomes, such as housing stability and , over less verifiable initiatives. Annual distributions underscore operational scale, with $250 million granted to 348 organizations in 2021 alone, reflecting a commitment to high-impact, verifiable progress in core areas like education and rather than diffuse or performative efforts. By 2022, grants reached $200 million, maintaining emphasis on entities equipped to deliver measurable societal gains.

Major Grants and Giving Pledge Commitment

In 2012, Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman signed , committing to donate more than half of their wealth to philanthropic causes during their lifetimes or in their wills. A prominent example of this commitment is their 2012 donation of £75 million (approximately $116 million) to the , which catalyzed a £300 million scholarship program to support low-income undergraduates and advance need-blind admissions for UK-domiciled students from households earning under £16,000 annually. This initiative, known as the Crankstart Scholarship Programme, has enabled thousands of academically qualified students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend without financial barriers, directly linking Moritz's funding to based on merit rather than socioeconomic quotas. In the United States, Moritz and Heyman pledged $50 million to the in 2016 to enhance support for low-income undergraduates, including Odyssey Scholarships covering full tuition, room, board, and additional aid, which have demonstrably increased enrollment and retention of high-achieving students from families earning less than $65,000 per year. This gift, matched through institutional and donor contributions to reach $100 million, underscores a focus on causal interventions that promote socioeconomic mobility via rigorous academic selection.

Political Views and Involvement

Alignment with Democratic Causes

Michael Moritz has identified as a supporter of Democratic causes, contributing large sums to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In the cycle, he emerged as a major Democratic donor, including $3.8 million alongside to the Democrat-aligned AB PAC aimed at opposing Republican candidates. Federal Commission data reflects his substantial contributions to pro-Biden and anti-Trump political action committees, underscoring his alignment with Democratic figures. Despite these donations, Moritz demonstrated independence from party orthodoxy in July 2024 by publicly calling for President Biden to withdraw from the reelection race. In a op-ed, he cited Biden's age of 81, faltering performance in the presidential , and polling averages showing a narrowing but persistent deficit against —such as aggregates indicating Biden trailing by 1-3 points nationally—as evidence that continuing the campaign would lead to defeat. This data-driven intervention prioritized electoral viability over loyalty to the incumbent. Moritz has consistently opposed Trump while critiquing perceived extremes within tech circles. In an August 2024 Financial Times piece, he warned peers endorsing Trump of self-delusion, questioning whether they would hire a convicted felon—referencing Trump's May 2024 conviction on 34 felony counts in a New York hush-money case—and highlighting risks to innovation-friendly policies under such leadership. His positions reflect backing for moderate Democratic leadership amid rejections of both and unquestioned incumbency.

Criticisms of Progressive Policies and Key Interventions

Moritz has channeled significant resources through his Crankstart Fund to Together SF Action, a political group advocating law-and-order reforms in , with over $300 million directed toward city improvement efforts since 2021, including support for addressing the fentanyl-driven drug crisis. This funding has backed initiatives targeting progressive policies perceived as contributing to public safety declines, such as reduced prosecutions and enforcement leniency. A key intervention was Moritz's financial support for the 2022 recall of Chesa Boudin, which succeeded with 55% voter approval on June 7, 2022, amid criticisms that Boudin's policies—rooted in reduced cash bail, non-prosecution of certain thefts, and emphasis on rehabilitation over incarceration—correlated with rising and unchecked drug markets. Together SF Action and allied PACs, bolstered by Moritz-linked donations, contributed to the $7.2 million raised by recall proponents, framing Boudin's approach as empirically failing to curb the that claimed 698 lives in in 2020 alone, escalating to 805 by 2023. In 2024, Moritz donated $3 million to Proposition D, a amendment ballot measure that sought to eliminate or consolidate over 100 city commissions, granting the greater authority over appointments and bureaucracy to enable faster responses to and crises. Though defeated with 57% opposition on November 5, 2024, Moritz advocated it as a pragmatic counter to paralysis under progressive oversight, citing data on persistence—despite billions spent—and overdose deaths surging from 623 in 2021 to a record 752 in 2023, alongside business relocations amid post-2020 crime waves linked to "defund the police" rhetoric and budget reallocations. He has argued in public commentary that such policies represent "debunked" ideology over evidence, with San Francisco's visible disorder—evident in overdose fatalities exceeding 80% fentanyl-related and corporate exits like Chevron's 2022 headquarters move—demonstrating causal failures of leniency without accountability.

Controversies

Remarks on Diversity in Venture Capital

In a December 2, 2015, interview on Bloomberg Television's Studio 1.0 with Emily Chang, Michael Moritz, then chairman of Sequoia Capital, addressed the firm's absence of female investing partners, stating that Sequoia actively seeks qualified women but faces a limited pipeline of candidates meeting the firm's rigorous standards for deal-making expertise and risk assessment. He emphasized that the firm avoids lowering hiring criteria, noting recent recruitment of a Stanford graduate woman comparable to male peers, and attributed the scarcity to historical underrepresentation in venture capital rather than internal bias, aligning with industry data showing only about 6% of investing partners at VC firms were women at the time. The remarks drew criticism from outlets including Vanity Fair and Vox, which portrayed them as dismissive of diversity efforts and reflective of broader Silicon Valley gender imbalances, though these sources often frame such discussions through lenses prioritizing representational quotas over meritocratic selection in high-risk investment roles where empirical track records in sourcing and evaluating startups determine fund performance. Moritz's position echoed causal factors in VC's male predominance, such as selection for traits like high risk tolerance and network-building in entrepreneurial ecosystems historically dominated by men, rather than systemic , as evidenced by low female participation rates in founder and operator pipelines feeding into partner roles. The following day, on December 3, 2015, Moritz issued a clarification via email to Bloomberg, affirming Sequoia's commitment to merit-blind hiring while acknowledging, "Sequoia needs to do a better job of finding [remarkable women] and attracting them," and expressing belief in the untapped potential of diverse talent to enhance venture outcomes without compromising excellence. This amendment underscored a balance between pipeline constraints and proactive , contrasting with pressures for imposed diversity targets that could dilute the causal link between partner acumen and outsized returns in VC, where top-decile funds like Sequoia's have historically outperformed by prioritizing verifiable aptitude over demographic metrics. Sequoia subsequently appointed Jess Lee as its first U.S. female investing partner in September 2016, following expanded sourcing efforts.

San Francisco Political Funding and Backlash

Moritz has channeled substantial funding through Together SF, a focused on reforming 's governance by supporting candidates and measures opposed to entrenched progressive policies. Established with significant backing from Moritz, the group received at least $17 million from him by 2024, enabling expenditures such as $7.8 million on the failed Proposition D in November 2024, including roughly $3 million directly from Moritz. Proposition D sought to cap city commissions at 65 and expand mayoral authority over department heads, but it was defeated amid voter skepticism toward outsider influence. Together SF also backed Mark Farrell's unsuccessful 2024 mayoral campaign, part of broader efforts to elect moderates challenging the status quo on and . Critics, including President , have accused Moritz of advancing interests under the guise of civic reform, portraying his donations as attempts to "buy" city hall for business-friendly outcomes. In response to Moritz's October 2024 New York Times criticizing Peskin for blocking housing and exacerbating dysfunction, Peskin countered that Moritz's interventions reflect self-interested billionaire meddling rather than genuine . Such backlash highlights tensions between tech donors and progressive incumbents, with detractors arguing that Moritz's funding undermines democratic processes by amplifying elite priorities like reduced over community-driven policies. Defenders point to tangible outcomes from Moritz-backed initiatives, such as the 2022 recall of , which aligned with efforts to address surging crime rates during his tenure, including a rise in homicides and property crimes that fueled public demand for tougher prosecution. Post-recall data under successor showed initial declines in certain categories, like homicides dropping in the immediate aftermath, though overall trends remained mixed amid national post-pandemic patterns. Failures like Proposition D's defeat illustrate the challenges of data-driven reforms against opposition from progressive coalitions, yet Moritz's Crankstart Foundation has directed over $336 million to causes since 2021, including grants for homelessness prevention and services verifiable through public filings. Transparency concerns have surfaced regarding the scale and targeting of these funds, but IRS filings and foundation reports link Crankstart's San Francisco allocations—encompassing anti-homelessness programs—to measurable interventions like preventive services and support, countering claims of opacity. While critics frame Moritz's approach as ideologically driven to protect tech-sector gains, of reversals, such as increased prosecutions post-Boudin, suggests causal links to improved public safety metrics in targeted areas, even if broader reversals face resistance from institutionally biased progressive strongholds.

Other Public Disputes

In January 2018, Moritz publicly described the Silicon Valley debate over extended paternity leave as "unhinged," arguing that employees devoted excessive time to negotiating benefits like extended time off rather than focusing on core work responsibilities, which he viewed as detrimental to firm productivity. His comments, made in a Financial Times interview, drew sharp criticism from tech industry figures who accused him of insensitivity toward work-life balance and modern family policies, potentially straining Sequoia's internal dynamics amid broader debates on firm culture. Moritz maintained that such benefits, while well-intentioned, risked diluting competitive edge in a high-stakes sector, a position aligned with his emphasis on results-driven investment outcomes over peripheral perks. In May 2023, posters from an anti-fentanyl campaign in , supported through Moritz-backed initiatives like Together SF, featured stark messaging such as "That's Fentalife" to underscore the lethality of drugs and advocate for stricter enforcement against dealers and users. The effort faced backlash from progressive critics and activists who labeled it stigmatizing toward and overly punitive, leading to by artists who viewed it as promoting harmful stereotypes rather than compassionate solutions. Moritz defended the approach by citing 's acute crisis, including over 740 overdose deaths in 2022—predominantly fentanyl-related—as evidence that lenient policies had failed to curb rising casualties, warranting a causal shift toward deterrence backed by data.

Honours and Recognition

Awards and Titles

In 2013, Michael Moritz was appointed Knight Commander of the (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contributions to philanthropy and the promotion of British economic interests. This honor, conferred through the British honours system, highlighted his role in fostering transatlantic business ties via successful investments in companies such as and , alongside substantial charitable giving that supported educational access and societal advancement. Moritz's status as a principal benefactor to —his —stems from a 2008 donation of approximately $50 million, the largest single gift in the college's history at the time, earmarked for undergraduate bursaries and facilities to aid students from modest backgrounds. This contribution, drawn from returns on early-stage tech investments, underscored a merit-based approach to prioritizing empirical impact on opportunity expansion over symbolic gestures.

Personal Life

Marriage and Family

Moritz is married to American author and sculptor Harriet Heyman, with whom he has two children. The family resides primarily in , , while maintaining additional properties in the , including a retreat acquired in the late for family use. They prioritize , rarely disclosing details about their children or personal routines despite Moritz's substantial wealth and public profile in . In 2000, Moritz and Heyman co-founded the Crankstart Foundation as a family initiative, integrating their personal partnership with structured giving efforts. Heyman's independent career as a , including works published under her name, aligns loosely with Moritz's pre-finance background in but involves no evident professional collaboration between them. This arrangement has supported a stable family environment amid Moritz's high-stakes career demands.

Authorship and Interests

Moritz has pursued authorship outside his journalistic work, co-authoring Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United with Sir Alex Ferguson in 2015, which draws on themes of disciplined and meritocratic achievement in sports . This collaboration highlights his interest in narratives of perseverance and strategic risk-taking, extending his intellectual engagement with high-stakes performance domains. Beyond writing, Moritz has invested personally in sports ventures, notably as a founding backer of the (PTO), established to elevate through professional governance, athlete representation, and global events like the T100 series. His continued , including participation in the PTO's 2025 Series C round, underscores a hobbyist affinity for endurance sports that demand rigorous training and calculated risks, mirroring principles of disciplined assessment he applies elsewhere. Moritz sustains connections to his Welsh and British roots amid his U.S.-based life, channeling interests into targeted that prioritizes institutional excellence over geographic detachment. In 2012, he and his wife donated £75 million (equivalent to $116 million at the time) to the —the largest single gift to a British university—to fund merit-accessible scholarships for undergraduates from state schools, aiming to broaden talent pools without diluting academic standards. Through their Crankstart foundation, they further supported literary pursuits by sponsoring the starting in 2019 with a multi-year commitment, fostering recognition of narrative craftsmanship in a field often influenced by subjective trends. These efforts reflect an ongoing commitment to cultural and educational heritage, informed by his birthplace and education.

References

  1. https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-moritz/
  2. https://www.reuters.com/business/sequoia-capital-partner-michael-moritz-exit-firm-after-38-years-2023-07-19/
  3. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2012-07-11-%C2%A3300m-scheme-transforms-undergraduate-financial-support
  4. https://golden.com/wiki/Michael_Moritz-YX8N9W
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  23. https://magazine.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/anniversary-issue/a-vc-with-a-silcon-touch-michael-l-moritz-wg-78/
  24. https://www.crunchbase.com/person/michael-moritz
  25. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2005-06-05/michael-moritz-on-sociopathic-entrepreneurs
  26. https://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2015/03/on-the-20th-anniversary-the-history-of-yahoos-founding/
  27. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/venture-capitalist-michael-moritz-understands-pension-reform-is-key/article_2a89fe13-2459-580a-9972-610875a602ec.html
  28. https://www.sequoiacap.com/companies/google/
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  30. https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/paypal-series-c--004c4de3
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  32. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/05/21/sequoias-moritz-stepping-down-for-medical-reasons/
  33. https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/21/venture-capitalist-michael-moritz-says-hes-stepping-back-from-sequoia-capital-because-of-illness/
  34. https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/19/michael-moritz-moves-on-bookmarking-a-long-chapter-at-sequoia-capital/
  35. https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-moritz-sequoia-partner-is-moving-to-vc-firms-wealth-division-2023-7
  36. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/business/media/michael-moritz-san-francisco-standard-charter.html
  37. https://billionairereporter.com/a-scoop-for-moritz/
  38. https://sfstandard.com/about/
  39. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-15/sequoia-s-moritz-bets-300-million-on-reshaping-san-francisco
  40. https://www.influencewatch.org/person/michael-moritz/
  41. https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/20/san-francisco-losing-black-men-overdose-crisis/
  42. https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/san-francisco-drug-overdose-deaths/
  43. https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/crankstart-foundation/
  44. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943377099
  45. https://crankstart.org/
  46. https://crankstart.org/programs
  47. https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/michael-moritz-crankstart-togethersf-investor-18494635.php
  48. https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/30/giving-pledge-turns-15-how-pledgers-are-doing/
  49. https://leadersperception.com/michael-moritz-venture-capitalist-and-sequoia-capital-partner/
  50. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2012-07-11-%25C2%25A3300m-scheme-transforms-undergraduate-financial-support
  51. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/116-million-gift-to-help-poor-attend-oxford-university/
  52. https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/crankstart/current-scholars
  53. https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiasavchuk/2016/02/17/billionaire-investor-michael-moritz-and-wife-gave-50-million-to-help-low-income-uchicago-students/
  54. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/100-million-initiative-enhances-uchicagos-commitment-lower-income-students
  55. https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/news/michael-moritz-sequoia-capital-university-of-chicago
  56. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/forbes-magazine_michael-moritz-gave-large-sums-to-barack-activity-7212157988621418496-MvhQ
  57. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-21/soros-sequoia-capital-s-moritz-give-millions-to-anti-gop-group
  58. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=moritz%252C%2Bmichael&two_year_transaction_period=2024&contributor_state=CA
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  61. https://www.ft.com/content/14f0a270-5143-4c75-b1d0-fa302467d73f
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  63. https://missionlocal.org/2022/05/explore-almost-9-million-donated-for-and-against-boudin-recall/
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  98. https://www.cityam.com/sir-michael-moritz-on-triathlon-dangerous-investments-and-fergie/
  99. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47393880
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