Gideon Yu

Career

Yu graduated from the University School of Nashville in 1989, where he was student body president and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011. He then attended Stanford University, majoring in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1999. In 1989, he received the First Place Grand Award in Environmental Science at the 40th International Science and Engineering Fair.

In his time with the 49ers, Yu led the team's efforts in financing Levi's Stadium, including securing an $850 million stadium construction loan, the largest ever in professional sports, a $200 million financing package from the NFL and the largest long-term stadium financing in NFL history. Yu also directed the 49ers drive to accelerate the opening date of Levi's Stadium from the 2015 to 2014 season. Perhaps the most notable distinction during Yu's tenure at the San Francisco 49ers, however, is that he is the first president of color of any team in the history of the National Football League. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Prior to joining the San Francisco 49ers football team, Yu was a General Partner at Khosla Ventures, where he led the firm's investment in Square and was the founding outside board member (Yu's board seat was later transferred to Vinod Khosla).

Previously, Yu was the chief financial officer of Facebook. Upon Yu's hiring, Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, speaking with the Wall Street Journal, said: "I consider it kind of a coup that we were able to recruit him here." Yu led the $375 million investment round from Microsoft and Hong-Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing at a then record $15 billion valuation. Zuckerberg further noted to the Wall Street Journal about Yu, "He's just excellent."

Before Facebook, Yu was a partner at Sequoia Capital, and was also the chief financial officer at YouTube where he negotiated its $1.65 billion sale to Google amidst a competitive auction for the company.

Prior to YouTube, Yu was the treasurer and senior vice president of Finance for Yahoo where he executed over 30 acquisitions/investments for Yahoo, including Alibaba, Taobao, Overture, Inktomi, Flickr, del.icio.us and over $5 billion of capital markets transactions. Prior to Yahoo, Yu was the chief financial officer of NightFire Software (acquired by NeuStar, NYSE: NSR) and held positions at Disney, Hilton, and DLJ / CSFB.

Philanthropy

Yu serves on the board of trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the board of directors of Tipping Point Community. Yu is also active philanthropically at his alma mater, Stanford University, where he "made a significant commitment to undergraduate scholarships" and "is volunteering as a member of the School of Engineering Advisory Council and the School of Earth Sciences Task Force." He previously served on the boards of directors of the UCSF Medical Foundation, and BUILD.

References

References

1. "Free Birthday Database".
2. Kawakami, Tim. (26 April 2011). "49ers add former Facebook exec Gideon Yu: Is there more to this?". San Jose Mercury News.
3. [https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/9863217/nfl-gets-grade-racial-hiring-study-says NFL scores A for racial hiring]. ''ESPN'', October 22, 2013
4. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118531562451376785 Facebook Hires Gideon Yu as Chief Financial Officer]. ''Wall Street Journal'', July 25, 2007
5. [http://www.thestreet.com/story/10307019/1/youtube-hires-yahoo-treasurer.html YouTube Hires Yahoo! Treasurer]. TheStreet.com, September 3, 2006
6. "2005 Annual Report".
7. [https://www.usn.org/news-detail?pk=582236 University School Of Nashville 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award]
8. Schmitt, Jeff. (2014-09-20). "The Most Successful Harvard MBAs".
9. (April 2023). "Gideon Yu: Executive Profile & Biography – Bloomberg".
10. [http://www.49ers.com/team/staff/gideon-yu/550b12f9-f78c-431a-a231-fcbf54ff5972 San Francisco 49ers Front Office Staff] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-10-15 . ''49ers.com'')
11. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/01khosla.html Khosla Ventures raises $1b+ and hires Gideon Yu as Partner]. ''New York Times'', August 31, 2009
12. "Vinod Khosla Succeeds Gideon Yu as Board Member of Square".
13. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118531562451376785 Facebook Hires Yu as Chief Financial Officer]. ''Wall Street Journal'', July 25, 2007
14. Delaney, Kevin. (25 July 2007). "Facebook Hires Yu as Finance Chief". The Wall Street Journal.
15. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/technology/24cnd-facebook.html Microsoft Invests $240 million in Facebook at a $15 billion valuation]. ''New York Times'', October 25, 2007
16. [https://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2731908420080328 Li Ka Shing Invests $120 million in Facebook at a $15 billion valuation]. Reuters, March 27, 2008
17. [https://venturebeat.com/2007/04/23/roundup-yus-wild-ride-stumbleupon-dot-bomb-travails-and-more/ Gideon Yu becomes a Partner at Sequoia Capital]. VentureBeat, April 23, 2007
18. [http://valleywag.gawker.com/304104/how-a-cop-almost-kiboshed-the-google+youtube-deal How the Google – YouTube Deal was signed] {{webarchive. link. (June 15, 2009 . Gawker, September 27, 2007)
19. [https://money.cnn.com/2006/10/09/technology/googleyoutube_deal/index.htm Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 billion]. CNNMoney, October 9, 2006
20. link. (2011-06-17 . Yahoo 2005 Annual Report)
21. "Architect of Google's YouTube deal exits Facebook".
22. "Monterey Bay Aquarium Mission and Leadership".
23. "Tipping Point Community".
24. (12 September 2014). "49ers Co-Owner Gives Back".
25. (4 October 2016). "Homepage".
26. "Board of Directors and Local Advisory Boards".