Douglas M. Leone (born July 4, 1957) is an American billionaire venture capitalist and former managing partner of Sequoia Capital, from which role he stepped aside in 2022 while remaining a general partner.[1] As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$6.1 billion.[2]
In 2017, he was ranked #693 on Forbes list of the World's Billionaires, with a net worth of US$2.9 billion.[14][15] In 2020, he was named on the Forbes Billionaires list with wealth of US$3.5 billion and ranked #538.[16] His ranking on the list in 2022 was #350, with a net worth of US$6.9 billion.[17]
Leone and his wife donated $100,000 to support President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign,[18] and Leone was appointed to Trump's task force on re-opening the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed] 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.[19] Leone renounced his support for Trump following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.[20]
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.[21][22]
Leone is married to Patricia Perkins-Leone.[32] The couple has four children, and lives in Atherton, California.[14] 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.[32]
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).[33][34]
^Konrad, Alex (April 4, 2022). "VC Heavyweight Sequoia Names Roelof Botha As New Global Leader". Forbes. Retrieved June 28, 2022. Leone also set a culture of results at Sequoia – embodied by Botha, he says, but applicable to Leone himself, as the investor led investments in Medallia, RingCentral, ServiceNow and Nubank for Sequoia over the years.
^"Douglas Leone". Forbes. 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022. Leone guided Sequoia into tech investments including Medallia, Rackspace, RingCentral, ServiceNow and Nubank.
^Haggin, Patience (March 29, 2017). "Sequoia Bets on ActionIQ for Marketers' Data Management Platform". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved June 29, 2022. 'We have been inundated with volumes of data,' said Sequoia Managing Partner Doug Leone, who sits on ActionIQ's board. 'The speed to answers has opened the door to a new set of startups that can solve complex problems really easy, for mere mortals, as they say.'
^Pooler, Michael; Megaw, Nicholas (December 9, 2021). "Nubank shares jump on first day of trading in New York". Financial Times. Retrieved June 29, 2022. The Colombia-born chief said there were no current plans to enter more countries, although Douglas Leone, a partner at US venture capital firm Sequoia and a member of Nubank's board, said the bank would eventually look to expand outside of Latin America.
^"strongDM Snares $17M in Series A". VC News Daily. Massinvestor, Inc. October 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2022. Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, has joined the company's board of directors.
^Novinson, Michael (December 9, 2020). "Ex-Microsoft Cloud Security Head Debuts Startup Wiz With $100M In Funding". CRN. The Channel Company. Retrieved June 29, 2022. Shah, Horing, Sequoia Capital Global Managing Partner Doug Leone and Gili Raanan of Cyberstarts will be joining the Wiz team as board members, according to the company.
