Roelof Botha

Roelof Botha
Born	Roelof Frederik Botha 19 9, 1973
Birthplace	Pretoria, South Africa
Nationality	South African, American
Occupation	Venture capitalist
Known for	Managing partner of Sequoia Capital (2022–2025); CFO of PayPal (2000–2003)
Education	Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA, 2000)
Awards	Forbes Midas List (multiple years)
Website	[https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/roelof-botha/ Official site]

Roelof Frederik Botha (born 19 September 1973) is a South African-American venture capitalist who served as the managing partner of Sequoia Capital from 2022 to 2025. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, during the apartheid era, Botha moved to the United States to attend Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he earned his MBA in 2000. Before entering venture capital, he served as the chief financial officer (CFO) of PayPal, guiding the company through its initial public offering in 2002. Botha joined Sequoia Capital in 2003 and over the following two decades established himself as one of the most prominent investors in Silicon Valley, with early or significant investments in companies including YouTube, Instagram, Square, MongoDB, Tumblr, and Unity. He assumed leadership of Sequoia's U.S. and European early-stage investment operations in 2017 before being named the firm's global managing partner in 2022. A recurring figure on the Forbes Midas List of top venture capitalists, Botha stepped down from the managing partner role in November 2025 and was succeeded by partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady.

Early Life

Roelof Frederik Botha was born on 19 September 1973 in Pretoria, South Africa. He grew up during the apartheid era, a period of significant political and social upheaval in the country. His upbringing in South Africa during this turbulent period has been described as formative, instilling in him a willingness to embrace uncertainty and pursue possibility.

Botha is a relative of Pik Botha, who served as South Africa's foreign minister during the apartheid government, and P. W. Botha, who served as State President of South Africa. Despite these family connections to South Africa's political establishment, Botha chose to pursue his career abroad, eventually settling in the United States.

Before moving to the United States for graduate studies, Botha completed his undergraduate education in South Africa. He studied actuarial science at the University of Cape Town, where he developed the quantitative and analytical skills that would later underpin his career in finance and venture capital. His background in actuarial science—a discipline focused on measuring and managing risk—provided an unusual but effective foundation for evaluating technology startups and growth-stage companies.

The transition from apartheid-era South Africa to the heart of Silicon Valley represented a significant cultural and professional leap. Botha has spoken publicly about how the experience of growing up in a country undergoing profound transformation shaped his perspective on risk, opportunity, and the potential for rapid change.

Education

Botha earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2000, during the height of the dot-com bubble. His time at Stanford placed him at the epicenter of the technology industry and provided connections that would prove instrumental throughout his career. The Stanford MBA program has produced numerous Silicon Valley executives and investors, and Botha's cohort graduated at a pivotal moment in the history of the technology sector.

Prior to attending Stanford, Botha had studied actuarial science at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The combination of his quantitative training from Cape Town and the business and entrepreneurial education he received at Stanford positioned him to move directly into a senior financial role at a fast-growing technology company upon graduation.

Career

PayPal (2000–2003)

Upon completing his MBA at Stanford in 2000, Botha joined PayPal as the company's chief financial officer (CFO). At PayPal, he was responsible for overseeing the company's financial operations during a period of rapid growth in the online payments industry. His tenure at the company included one of the most significant milestones in PayPal's history: its initial public offering in February 2002.

As CFO, Botha played a central role in preparing PayPal for the public markets, managing the company's financial disclosures, and communicating with investors and analysts. The IPO was notable as one of the first successful technology company public offerings following the dot-com crash, and it demonstrated that well-managed internet businesses could still attract public market capital even in a challenging environment.

PayPal was subsequently acquired by eBay in October 2002 for approximately $1.5 billion. Botha's experience at PayPal connected him to the broader network of former PayPal executives and early employees—a group that became known colloquially as the "PayPal Mafia"—many of whom went on to found or lead other major technology companies, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and Max Levchin.

Botha remained at PayPal until 2003, when he transitioned to venture capital by joining Sequoia Capital.

Sequoia Capital (2003–2025)

Early years and investment track record

Botha joined Sequoia Capital as a partner in 2003, bringing with him the operational finance experience he had gained at PayPal and the network of relationships he had built in Silicon Valley. Sequoia Capital, founded in 1972 by Don Valentine, is one of the oldest and most prominent venture capital firms in the world, with early investments in companies such as Apple, Google, Oracle, and Cisco.

At Sequoia, Botha built an extensive portfolio of investments across the technology sector. His investment activities as a board director, as of 2022, spanned companies including MongoDB, Evernote, Bird, Natera, Square, Unity, and Xoom. He also worked with companies including AssureRX, FutureAdvisor, Instagram, Mixpanel, and Mu Sigma.

Several of Botha's investments resulted in major acquisitions by large technology companies. He served on the board of YouTube before its acquisition by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, one of the most consequential acquisitions in the history of the internet industry. He was also on the board of Meebo before its acquisition by Google, Weebly before its acquisition by Square, and Tumblr before its acquisition by Yahoo!.

Additional companies in Botha's investment portfolio included 23andMe, Eventbrite, Jawbone, Mahalo, Nimbula, TokBox, and Whisper. The breadth of these investments—spanning social media, fintech, healthcare, enterprise software, consumer internet, and hardware—reflected a generalist approach to venture investing that prioritized company and team quality across sectors.

His investment in Instagram proved to be among his most notable. Sequoia invested in the photo-sharing application before its acquisition by Facebook (later Meta Platforms) in 2012 for approximately $1 billion, a deal that generated substantial returns for the firm's investors.

The investment in Square (later renamed Block, Inc.), the payments company founded by Jack Dorsey, also became one of Botha's signature deals. Square went public in 2015, and its market capitalization grew substantially in subsequent years as the company expanded from point-of-sale payments into a broader financial services platform.

Botha's investment in MongoDB, the database company, represented a significant enterprise software bet. MongoDB went public in 2017 and became one of the most valuable database companies in the world.

His involvement with Unity Technologies, the game engine and development platform, included a seat on the company's board of directors. Unity went public in September 2020. Botha continued to serve on the board through the company's leadership transitions, including the retirement of CEO John Riccitiello in October 2023.

Leadership of U.S. and European operations (2017)

In January 2017, Sequoia Capital announced a leadership transition in which Botha took over the firm's U.S. and European early-stage investment franchises from Jim Goetz, who had served in the role for several years. The change was also reported by The New York Times, which noted the significance of the shift at one of Silicon Valley's most influential firms.

Goetz, whose investments had included WhatsApp, stepped back from day-to-day management, while Botha assumed responsibility for directing the firm's seed and early-stage investment activities in both the United States and Europe. This elevation positioned Botha as one of the most senior figures within the Sequoia organization and a likely candidate for eventual global leadership.

Global managing partner (2022–2025)

In April 2022, Sequoia Capital named Botha as its global managing partner, the firm's top leadership position. The appointment came at a time when Sequoia was undergoing significant structural changes, including a reorganization of its fund structure that separated its U.S./European, Chinese, and Indian/Southeast Asian operations into distinct entities.

Botha's tenure as managing partner coincided with a period of considerable turbulence in the venture capital industry. The broader technology sector experienced a significant downturn beginning in late 2022, with declining valuations, reduced IPO activity, and increased scrutiny of venture-backed companies. Sequoia itself faced challenges, including the fallout from its investment in FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried that collapsed in November 2022 amid fraud allegations.

During his time leading the firm, Botha oversaw Sequoia's continued investment activities in artificial intelligence and other emerging technology sectors. In a November 2025 appearance, Botha stated that SpaceX, the rocket and satellite company founded by Elon Musk, had a "bigger chance of being the most valuable company" than OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company.

Departure from managing partner role (November 2025)

On 4 November 2025, it was announced that Botha was stepping down as Sequoia Capital's managing partner. Partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady were named as his successors to lead the firm.

The circumstances surrounding Botha's departure were the subject of extensive media coverage. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sequoia leaders had asked Botha to step aside amid leadership concerns and a turbulent stretch for the firm. Forbes reported that Botha was stepping down "after mounting pressure" and described his three years as managing partner as a period that "tested the very foundations" of the firm.

The Financial Times reported that Botha had been "pushed out by top lieutenants" who had "lost confidence in his ability" to lead the firm, characterizing his leadership style as "imperial." A separate Forbes report described the transition as occurring amid a "cultural reckoning" at the firm.

Fortune described Botha as having been at "the helm of Sequoia Capital" for "nearly a decade," encompassing both his leadership of U.S. and European operations from 2017 and his tenure as global managing partner from 2022.

Personal Life

Botha holds both South African and American citizenship. He relocated from South Africa to the United States to attend Stanford Graduate School of Business and has been based in the San Francisco Bay Area for his professional career.

He is related to two prominent South African political figures: Pik Botha, who served as South Africa's minister of foreign affairs from 1977 to 1994, and P. W. Botha, who served as prime minister and later state president of South Africa. These family connections to the apartheid-era government have been noted in profiles of Botha, although his career has been built entirely outside of South African politics.

Botha has been profiled in Dutch financial media, with the Het Financieele Dagblad (Financial Daily) describing his approach to business as modest despite his significant success in venture capital.

Recognition

Botha has been a recurring presence on the Forbes Midas List, which ranks the top venture capitalists in the world based on the performance of their investments. He was ranked 22nd on the Midas List in 2008, reflecting the strong performance of early investments such as YouTube. His ranking rose to 9th in 2021, a position that reflected the maturation and public market success of companies including Square and MongoDB. He was ranked 36th in 2022 and 13th in 2025.

His consistent ranking among the top venture capitalists over a period spanning nearly two decades reflected the sustained returns generated by his portfolio of investments across multiple technology cycles. The Midas List ranking methodology takes into account the financial returns generated by a venture capitalist's investments, making it one of the more quantitative measures of performance in the industry.

Stanford Graduate School of Business has profiled Botha as a notable alumnus, highlighting his career trajectory from South Africa through Stanford to the leadership of one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms.

Forbes has maintained a dedicated profile page for Botha, reflecting his status as one of the most prominent figures in the venture capital industry.

Legacy

Botha's career in venture capital, spanning more than two decades at Sequoia Capital, placed him at the center of numerous significant developments in the technology industry. His investments touched many of the defining consumer internet and enterprise technology companies of the 2000s and 2010s, from YouTube's transformation of online video to Instagram's reshaping of social media, Square's expansion of digital payments, and MongoDB's role in the shift toward modern database technologies.

His trajectory from CFO of PayPal—one of the foundational companies of the modern internet economy—to the top leadership position at Sequoia Capital traced an arc through some of the most consequential moments in Silicon Valley history. The PayPal IPO in 2002, the YouTube acquisition by Google in 2006, the Instagram acquisition by Facebook in 2012, and the IPOs of Square, MongoDB, and Unity all represented inflection points in the technology industry in which Botha played a direct role as either a financial executive or board member.

His tenure as Sequoia's managing partner, while marked by challenges including the FTX collapse and internal leadership tensions, coincided with a transformative period for venture capital as the industry grappled with rising interest rates, compressed valuations, and the emergence of artificial intelligence as a dominant investment theme. The circumstances of his departure in November 2025—with multiple outlets reporting that partners had pressed for a leadership change—underscored the pressures facing leaders of major venture capital firms during a period of rapid industry evolution.

Botha's career also represented a notable example of the international pathways into Silicon Valley's leadership ranks. His journey from apartheid-era South Africa to the helm of one of the world's most influential technology investment firms reflected the global nature of the venture capital ecosystem and the role of institutions such as Stanford Business School in attracting and developing international talent for the technology industry.