Mike Moritz

Mike Moritz
Born	Michael Moritz
Nationality	British, American
Occupation	Venture capitalist, author, journalist
Employer	Sequoia Capital
Known for	Partner at Sequoia Capital; early investor in Google, Yahoo!, PayPal

Sir Michael Moritz (born in Cardiff, Wales) is a British-American venture capitalist, journalist, author, and philanthropist who spent more than three decades as a partner at Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms. Moritz is recognized for his early-stage investments in some of the most consequential technology companies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, including Google, Yahoo!, PayPal, and LinkedIn. A former journalist at Time magazine, where he covered the nascent personal computer industry, Moritz transitioned into venture capital in the mid-1980s and went on to become one of the most influential investors in the technology sector. His career at Sequoia Capital spanned a period of extraordinary growth in the internet economy, and his investment decisions helped shape the landscape of modern technology. Beyond venture capital, Moritz has been a frequent commentator on immigration policy, technology regulation, and the culture of Silicon Valley, contributing op-ed columns to the Financial Times. Born and raised in Wales to a family with roots in the European Jewish diaspora, Moritz has been described as the wealthiest Welshman ever, a distinction noted in British media profiles exploring his origins and rise to prominence in American finance and technology.

Early Life

Michael Moritz was born in Cardiff, Wales, and grew up in the city's Jewish community. His family background is rooted in the European Jewish diaspora; his parents were part of a community that had settled in Wales. A profile in The Jewish Chronicle described Moritz as a youth club leader in his younger years in Cardiff, with a former acquaintance recalling his early promise and ambition. The article, written by journalist Gaby Koppel, recounts her scanning of teenage diaries for memories of Moritz during his youth in Wales, noting that even in those early years there were signs of the drive that would later define his career in Silicon Valley.

Moritz's Welsh upbringing and Jewish heritage have been recurring themes in profiles of the investor, particularly in British media, where he is frequently identified as the wealthiest person to have come from Wales. His early life in Cardiff, far removed from the technology hubs of California, provided a contrast that journalists have often highlighted when recounting his trajectory from a modest background in a British city to the upper echelons of American venture capital.

Education

Moritz attended the University of Oxford, where he studied history at Christ Church. He later moved to the United States and earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His academic background in history at Oxford and business at Wharton provided a foundation that combined analytical rigour with narrative thinking—skills that would prove useful first in journalism and later in evaluating technology startups.

Career

Journalism

Before entering venture capital, Moritz worked as a journalist. He joined Time magazine, where he covered the emerging personal computer industry during the early 1980s. This period placed him at the centre of one of the most transformative technological shifts of the twentieth century, giving him front-row access to the founders, engineers, and entrepreneurs who were building the foundations of the modern technology industry. His reporting work at Time included coverage of Apple Computer and its co-founder Steve Jobs, which led to Moritz authoring The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer (1984), one of the earliest books about the company. He also co-authored Going for Broke: Lee Iacocca's Battle to Save Chrysler with Barrett Seaman.

His journalism career gave Moritz a deep understanding of the technology sector, an extensive network of contacts in Silicon Valley, and a storyteller's ability to evaluate the narratives that entrepreneurs presented when seeking funding—qualities that would distinguish his approach to venture capital.

Sequoia Capital

Moritz joined Sequoia Capital in 1986, transitioning from journalism to venture capital. Sequoia, founded by Don Valentine in 1972, was already one of Silicon Valley's leading firms, known for early investments in companies such as Apple and Atari. Moritz rose through the ranks to become one of the firm's most prominent partners and eventually served as chairman of Sequoia Capital.

Over the course of his career at Sequoia, Moritz was involved in investments in a series of companies that became defining enterprises of the internet era and the broader technology industry. Among the most notable of these were:

• Yahoo! — Moritz led Sequoia's investment in Yahoo! in the mid-1990s, when the company was a fledgling internet directory operated by Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo. Yahoo! went on to become one of the first major internet companies and a dominant web portal of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

• Google — Sequoia Capital, with Moritz playing a central role, was one of the earliest institutional investors in Google, alongside Kleiner Perkins. The investment, made in 1999, is widely cited as one of the most profitable venture capital deals in history. Google's subsequent growth into Alphabet Inc., a company with a market capitalisation in the trillions of dollars, generated extraordinary returns for Sequoia and its limited partners.

• PayPal — Moritz was an early backer of PayPal, the online payments company that was acquired by eBay in 2002 for approximately $1.5 billion. PayPal's founding team, sometimes referred to as the "PayPal Mafia," went on to found or lead numerous other major technology companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, LinkedIn, Palantir Technologies, and YouTube.

• LinkedIn — Moritz was involved in Sequoia's investment in LinkedIn, the professional networking platform founded by Reid Hoffman, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2016.

These investments, among many others, established Moritz as one of the most successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley history. His approach was characterised by an emphasis on the quality of founding teams, the scale of market opportunity, and the ability of companies to build durable competitive advantages.

Moritz stepped back from day-to-day investing at Sequoia Capital in the mid-2010s, though he retained a role at the firm. In media coverage and public commentary, he has continued to be identified with Sequoia and its legacy.

Public Commentary and Op-Ed Writing

Following his transition away from active investing, Moritz has become a prominent public commentator on technology, immigration, and economic policy. He has written regularly for the Financial Times, producing op-ed columns that address a range of issues affecting the technology sector and the broader American economy.

In August 2024, Moritz published an op-ed in the Financial Times criticising technology investors who had publicly supported Donald Trump's presidential campaign. In the piece, Moritz argued that Trump's tech backers were "making a big mistake," warning about the potential consequences of aligning the technology industry with Trump's political agenda. The column drew significant attention in both technology and political media, positioning Moritz as a dissenting voice within the venture capital community at a time when several prominent Silicon Valley figures were aligning with the Trump campaign.

In August 2025, Moritz wrote publicly in defence of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan after President Trump demanded Tan's resignation. Moritz described Trump's actions as "artless bullying" and argued that there was "no one better equipped" than Tan to lead Intel through a period of restructuring and competitive challenge. The column was reported on by CNBC and the Times of India, among other outlets, and was interpreted as a significant intervention in the debate over the future of the American semiconductor industry.

In September 2025, Moritz published another Financial Times op-ed, this time attacking the Trump administration's proposal to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications. Moritz described the fee as a "brutish extortion scheme" and compared the White House's approach to the tactics of Tony Soprano's pork store—a reference to the fictional organised crime operation depicted in the television series The Sopranos. The column was covered by TechCrunch, which described Moritz as "the former Sequoia Capital honcho," and by The Tech Buzz, which characterised him as a "VC legend."

These public interventions reflect Moritz's longstanding concern with immigration policy, particularly as it relates to the technology industry's ability to attract talent from around the world. As a Welsh-born immigrant to the United States himself, Moritz has drawn on his personal experience to argue for more open immigration policies, a theme that recurs throughout his public writing.

Authorship

In addition to his venture capital career and op-ed writing, Moritz is the author of several books. His most notable works include:

• The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer (1984) — An early account of the founding and growth of Apple Computer, based in part on Moritz's reporting for Time magazine.
• Going for Broke: Lee Iacocca's Battle to Save Chrysler (co-authored with Barrett Seaman) — An account of the turnaround of Chrysler under CEO Lee Iacocca.
• Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs, the Creation of Apple, and How it Changed the World (2009) — An updated and expanded edition of his earlier Apple book, incorporating the intervening decades of the company's history under Jobs's leadership.

His books, particularly those on Apple, are cited as early primary sources on the company's founding era and have been referenced by subsequent historians and biographers of Steve Jobs.

Personal Life

Moritz holds both British and American citizenship. He has been based in the San Francisco Bay Area for much of his adult life, consistent with his career in Silicon Valley venture capital.

Moritz has been involved in philanthropy, with a particular focus on education and social causes. He was knighted for his philanthropic contributions, receiving the honour of Knight Bachelor in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to the community. He and his wife, Harriet Heyman, have made significant charitable donations through their foundation.

British media profiles have emphasised Moritz's Welsh roots and his status as the wealthiest Welshman. The Jewish Chronicle described him as a product of Cardiff's Jewish community, noting his involvement in youth clubs and communal life before his departure for Oxford and, ultimately, the United States.

Recognition

Moritz's career in venture capital has resulted in numerous forms of recognition. He has been included on lists of the most influential investors and business figures in the technology sector. His investments in Google, Yahoo!, and PayPal are frequently cited in analyses of the most consequential venture capital deals in history.

In 2013, Moritz was awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours for services to the community, recognising his philanthropic activities. The honour entitled him to the style "Sir Michael Moritz."

Media coverage has consistently identified Moritz as one of the defining figures of Silicon Valley's venture capital industry. His transition from journalism to investing, and his subsequent role in funding companies that reshaped the internet, has made him a frequent subject of profiles and analyses in outlets including CNBC, the Financial Times, TechCrunch, and the Times of India.

His public commentary on immigration policy and technology regulation has further raised his profile in the mid-2020s, with media outlets describing him as a "VC legend" and a "billionaire" venture capitalist whose views carry weight in policy debates.

Legacy

Moritz's legacy in venture capital is defined by the scale and impact of the companies he backed during the formative years of the internet economy. His investments in Google, Yahoo!, PayPal, and LinkedIn contributed to the creation of platforms that reshaped commerce, communication, and information access on a global scale. Within the venture capital industry, his career at Sequoia Capital is cited as an exemplar of the potential returns from early-stage technology investing and the importance of identifying exceptional founding teams.

His background as a journalist and author distinguishes him from many of his peers in the venture capital industry and has informed his approach to evaluating companies and founders. His books on Apple Computer remain among the earliest detailed accounts of the company's origins and have served as source material for subsequent historians of Silicon Valley.

In his post-investing career, Moritz has used his platform as a Financial Times columnist to advocate for immigration reform and to critique what he views as harmful government interference in the technology sector. His willingness to publicly challenge both political figures and his own industry peers—whether criticising tech investors' support for Donald Trump or defending an embattled CEO against presidential pressure—has positioned him as an outspoken voice in debates about the relationship between technology, government, and society.

As a Welsh-born immigrant who rose to the top of American venture capital, Moritz's story has also been invoked in discussions about the role of immigrants in the United States' technology industry—a theme he has explicitly addressed in his own writing and public advocacy.