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Zenger
Business
Murtuza Merchant

Sequoia Capital Undergoes Major Changes Amidst Market Volatility And Departure Of Key Investors‌

Sequoia Capital logo is seen on a smartphone and on a pc screen. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Venture firm Sequoia Capital has undergone significant changes over the past year, marked by market volatility, a split, and the departure of at least five investors.

Michael Moritz, a long-standing partner since 1986, is stepping away from the venture firm to concentrate on Sequoia Heritage, a wealth management business he co-founded that exceeds $15 billion. A significant portion of his family foundation, Crankstart, is held at Heritage.

Moritz will continue to serve on the boards of various Sequoia companies, such as Stripe Inc., but will gradually step down from these roles, according to Bloomberg News.

Michael Moritz at an event in San Francisco in 2016. Moritz, a long-standing partner of Sequoia Capital since 1986, is stepping away from the venture firm to concentrate on Sequoia Heritage, a wealth management business he co-founded. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

Sequoia’s Roelof Botha praised Moritz’s contributions in the note, highlighting Moritz’s investments in companies like Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL).

“He helped establish Sequoia as one of the leading technology investment groups in the world,” Botha said.

Moritz isn’t the only Sequoia partner exiting the firm.

Mike Vernal, another senior partner, is also departing, along with Michelle Fradin, an investor in FTX (CRYPTO: FTT), as well as Kais Khimji and Daniel Chen.

Despite profitable returns since launching in 1972, Sequoia suffered a $214 million loss, primarily from its global growth fund. However, this loss was a small fraction of the fund’s realized and unrealized gains of about $7.5 billion.

Fradin was a relatively new partner who played a key role in the decision to invest in FTX before the crypto startup went bankrupt, according to Bloomberg.

There’s also Chen, who identifies himself as a “crypto maxi” on Twitter.

Khimji, who joined in 2019, focused on later-stage companies. Vernal joined the firm in 2016.

Meanwhile, Sequoia recently announced a significant split with its operations in China and India in June, partly due to increasing pressure on Silicon Valley to distance itself from China amidst escalating geopolitical tensions.

 

© 2023 Zenger News.com. Zenger News does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Edited by Arnab Nandy

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