Douglas Leone

Early life

Leone was born July 4, 1957, in Genoa, Italy. His family moved to the United States when Leone was 11 and settled in Mount Vernon, New York. a master's in industrial engineering from Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1986, and a master's degree in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1988 as a Sloan Fellow.

Career

Leone began his career in sales and management positions at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Prime Computer. He joined Sequoia Capital in 1988, became a managing partner in 1996, and then the global managing partner in 2012.

In 2017, Forbes named him a top-10 investor in the technology industry in the United States. Leone has been involved in Sequoia investments in numerous companies, including Aruba Networks, Hyperion/Arbor Software, International Network Services, Medallia, Netezza, PlanGrid, Rackspace, RingCentral, and ServiceNow. He also led Sequoia's international expansion into China and India.{{cite news |last=Thorne |first=James |date=April 5, 2022 |title=Timeline: How Sequoia's rainmakers navigated decades of VC highs and lows

In 2017, he was ranked #693 on Forbes list of the World's Billionaires, with a net worth of US$2.9 billion. In 2020, he was named on the Forbes Billionaires list with wealth of US$3.5 billion and ranked #538. His ranking on the list in 2022 was #350, with a net worth of US$6.9 billion.

Leone and his wife donated $100,000 to support President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, and Leone was appointed to Trump's task force on re-opening the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Washington Post reported that Leone proposed using his connections in the Trump Administration to help smooth the sale of TikTok (in which Sequoia had invested heavily) to a US corporation. Leone renounced his support for Trump following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.

In April 2022, Sequoia announced that Roelof Botha would replace Leone as its senior steward of global brand and operations, effective from July 5, following Leone's 65th birthday. Since then, Leone continues to be a general partner in Sequoia's existing funds.{{cite news |last1=Mascarenhas |first1=Natasha |last2=Loizos |first2=Connie |date=April 4, 2022 |title=Sequoia's Doug Leone steps down, making way for new global head Roelof Botha

Leone is a backer of America PAC which supported the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign.

Boards

Leone is a board member for several companies, including ActionIQ,

Personal life

Leone is married to Patricia Perkins-Leone. The couple has four children, and lives in Atherton, California. They have been seeking to build an oceanfront home in Makena, Maui, Hawaii, but as of November 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled against the development.

In May 2021, Leone was conferred with the Order of the Star of Italy, in the class of Officer (Ufficiale dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia).

References

References

1. Mascarenhas, Natasha. (April 4, 2022). "Sequoia's Doug Leone steps down, making way for new global head Roelof Botha".
2. "Forbes profile: Douglas Leone". Forbes.
3. "Douglas Leone Story – Bio, Facts, Networth, Family, Auto, Home {{!}} Famous Capitalists {{!}} SuccessStory".
4. Leone earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from [[Cornell University]] in 1979,[https://www.alumni.cornell.edu/csv/advisor-leone.cfm "Cornell University Alumni"], "Cornell University". Retrieved June 28, 2016.
5. [https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=75135&privcapId=22903, "Executive Profile: Douglas M. Leone"],"Bloomberg". Retrieved June 28, 2016.
6. Anders, George. (March 26, 2014). "Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory". Forbes.
7. [http://www.businessinsider.co.id/famous-mit-sloan-business-school-graduates-2014-10/18/#.V3Ku-JMrJyo, "The 25 Most Successful MIT Business School Graduates"] {{Webarchive. link. (August 15, 2016 , "Business Insider", October 16, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2016.)
8. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-leone-a2714 "Doug Leone"], "LinkedIn", retrieved June 7, 2017.
9. "Midas List".
10. Konrad, Alex. (April 4, 2022). "VC Heavyweight Sequoia Names Roelof Botha As New Global Leader". Forbes.
11. (2022). "Douglas Leone". Forbes.
12. "Mentors: Douglas Leone". Genoa Entrepreneurship School.
13. "The World's Billionaires". Forbes.
14. "The Richest in 2020". Forbes.
15. "World Billionaires List: The Richest in 2022". Forbes.
16. "Here Are The Billionaires Who Donated To Donald Trump's 2020 Presidential Campaign".
17. (August 8, 2020). "TikTok's fate was shaped by a 'knockdown, drag-out' Oval Office brawl". Washington Post.
18. (January 13, 2021). "One of Donald Trump's biggest Silicon Valley backers is renouncing his support". Vox.
19. Konrad, Alex. (April 4, 2022). "VC Heavyweight Sequoia Names Roelof Botha As New Global Leader". Forbes.
20. "How an Elon Musk PAC is using voter data to help Trump beat Harris in 2024 election". CNBC.
21. "Douglas Leone Overview". PitchBook.
22. "Doug Leone". Slush.
23. Benmeleh, Yaacov. (March 29, 2022). "Sequoia's Leone Says Tech Investors Have Cut Activity". [[Bloomberg News.
24. (October 29, 2020). "strongDM Snares $17M in Series A". Massinvestor, Inc..
25. Novinson, Michael. (December 9, 2020). "Ex-Microsoft Cloud Security Head Debuts Startup Wiz With $100M In Funding". The Channel Company.
26. Tummons, Patricia. (November 1, 2017). "Supreme Court Rejects Takings Claim Of Landowner Against Maui County".
27. (May 25, 2021). "Leone Dott. Douglas Mauro".
28. (December 7, 2021). "BAIA Holiday Aperitivo: Event recap".