Doug Leone

Person

A former leader of Sequoia Capital and a key mentor to Roelof Botha, who taught him the importance of 'heart' and providing personal support to founders and partners.


First Mentioned

10/10/2025, 3:08:04 AM

Last Updated

10/10/2025, 3:10:34 AM

Research Retrieved

10/10/2025, 3:10:34 AM

Summary

Doug Leone is a prominent American billionaire venture capitalist, known for his extensive career at Sequoia Capital. He joined the firm in 1988, became a managing partner in 1996, and later served as Global Managing Partner from 2012 until stepping down in 2022, though he remains a general partner. Leone played a pivotal role in backing successful companies like ServiceNow, Nubank, Wiz, Airbnb, RingCentral, and Palo Alto Networks, and spearheaded Sequoia's expansion into China and India. He is also recognized for mentoring Roelof Botha, his successor as leader of Sequoia Capital, imparting the importance of "heart" in investing, a cultural value tracing back to founder Don Valentine. As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at $6.1 billion.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Born

    1957-07-04

  • Education

    Bachelor of Arts/Science, Cornell University; Master of Science, Columbia University; Master of Business Administration, MIT Sloan School of Management

  • First Job

    Collecting golf balls at a driving range (lasted two days)

  • Full Name

    Douglas M. Leone

  • Known For

    Getting up at 4:30 a.m. to work out

  • Nationality

    American

  • Place of Birth

    Italy

  • Immigration to US

    Age 11 (moved to New York, barely spoke English)

  • Net Worth (July 2017)

    $3.3 billion USD (Forbes)

  • Net Worth (August 2022)

    $6.1 billion USD

  • Net Worth (October 2025, Real-Time Estimate)

    $9.8 billion USD (Forbes)

Timeline
  • Born Douglas M. Leone in Italy. (Source: Wikipedia, Web Search)

    1957-07-04

  • Immigrated to the United States (New York) at age 11, barely speaking English. (Source: Web Search)

    1968

  • Joined Sequoia Capital after working in sales and management roles at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Prime Computer. (Source: Web Search)

    1988

  • Became a managing partner at Sequoia Capital, inheriting the reins from founder Don Valentine alongside Michael Moritz. (Source: Web Search)

    1996

  • Assumed the role of Global Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, leading its expansion into China and India. (Source: Web Search)

    2012

  • Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.3 billion USD. (Source: Web Search)

    2017-07

  • Joined the board of directors of strongDM as Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital. (Source: Web Search)

    2020-10-29

  • Joined the board of directors of Wiz as Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital. (Source: Web Search)

    2022-01-01

  • Stepped aside from the Global Managing Partner role at Sequoia Capital, continuing as a general partner. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Web Search)

    2022

  • His net worth was estimated at $6.1 billion USD. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

    2022-08

  • Forbes real-time estimate placed his net worth at $9.8 billion USD. (Source: Web Search)

    2025-10-08

Douglas Leone

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. As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$6.1 billion.

Web Search Results
  • #1: Sequoia's Doug Leone: Trauma, Hardship, Purpose ... - YouTube

    Doug Leone is a billionaire venture capitalist and former Global Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital. He joined Sequoia in 1988 and became a managing partner in 1996, later taking on the global managing role in 2012. Throughout his career, Doug has played a pivotal role in backing companies like ServiceNow, Nubank, Wiz, Airbnb, RingCentral, and Palo Alto Networks, while also leading Sequoia’s expansion into China and India. Before joining Sequoia, he worked in sales and management roles at Sun [...] # #1: Sequoia’s Doug Leone: Trauma, Hardship, Purpose, and Silicon Valley’s Top Firm ## Divot 62800 subscribers 492 likes ### Description 22353 views Posted: 5 Mar 2025 Doug Leone believes that the toughest challenges create the strongest people. From immigrating to the U.S. at age 11 and struggling through his teenage years to becoming the global leader of Sequoia Capital, Doug’s journey is filled with hard-earned lessons on resilience, success, and leadership. [...] this episode is brought to you by Google cloud and notion since it's founding in 1972 Sequoia has provided funding for some of the very best startups and entrepreneurs from Apple to Oracle Google to Atari WhatsApp to Nvidia before joining seoa in 1988 Doug held sale positions at Sun Doug Leone’s Background and Early Life as an Italian Immigrant in the U.S. Microsystems CET Packer crime computers an degrees from Cornell Columbia and MIT Doug Leone is seen as one of the great Venture investors of

  • Douglas Leone - Wikipedia

    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. As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$6.1 billion. ## Early life [edit] [...] 30. ^ "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. [...] 28. ^ Orbach, Meir (January 1, 2022). "The mysterious Israeli cybersecurity startup that has raised $100 million under the radar". Calcalist. Yedioth Ahronoth Group. Retrieved June 29, 2022. Following the rounds, the company added several senior VC executives to its board, including: Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital, Jeff Horing, co-founder and managing director at Insight Partners. Gili Raanan and Ken Fox, founder of Stripes.

  • Douglas Leone : Awards | Carnegie Corporation of New York

    Carnegie Corporation of New York great immigrants great immigrants logo # Douglas Leone Venture capitalist and Global Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital Douglas Leone Douglas Leone is an Italian-born American venture capitalist and managing partner at Sequoia Capital. He moved to the United States at the age OF 11 and earned degrees from Cornell University, Columbia University and MIT. Forbes estimates his net worth at $3.3 billion. Updated July 2017 None [...] Executive Chairman and CEO, U.S. News & World Report None Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist None Professor of Astrophysics, MIT None Founder, Women for Women International X facebook instagram linkedin youtube

  • Douglas Leone - Forbes

    Doug Leone ran VC firm Sequoia from 1996 to 2022. During his tenure, Leone guided Sequoia into tech investments including Rackspace, RingCentral, ServiceNow, Nubank, and Wiz, which Google offered to acquire for $32 billion in March 2025. He inherited the reins from firm founder Don Valentine in the mid-1990s, alongside Michael Moritz. He started his tech career at Sun Microsystems, a firm cofounded by another billionaire venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla. [...] Get in Touch With Douglas Leone PROFILE # Douglas Leone Sequoia $9.8B $100M (1.01%) ### Real Time Net Worth as of 10/8/25 Reflects change since 5 pm ET of prior trading day. #328 in the world today Photo by Courtesy of Doug Leone From the Editor [...] Education : Master of Science, Columbia University; Bachelor of Arts/Science, Cornell University; Master of Business Administration, MIT Sloan School of Management Did you know When Leone moved to New York with his family at age 11, he barely spoke a word of English. He's known for getting up at 4:30 a.m. to work out before a day at the firm. Leone's first job was collecting golf balls by hand at a driving range. He lasted two days. In Their Own Words

  • Seven Questions with Doug Leone

    Seven Questions with Doug Leone Image 1Image 2 Go to our main website ⟶ Image 3 MEET Doug As Global Managing Partner of Sequoia, Doug Leone has partnered with companies including RingCentral and ServiceNow while leading the firm’s expansion into China and India. He began his career in tech at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Prime Computer, before joining Sequoia in 1988. What is something you’ve learned that you lean on daily? [...] Hard-won advice Teams always win Know your limits Listening is key — Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner, Sequoia Image 4 Image 7Image 8 [...] I would say 12 months. I don’t do my best every second—who does?—but I try to bring my best every day. Even then, you might have a day or a week where you don’t bring it, so I try to look at the bigger picture. It’s not every second or every hour that matters. It needs to be more strategic than that. With a year, you’ve got to have a general direction where you’re going. It has an element of strategy, an aim and a goal. Then it’s execution. It gives you enough time to be right and to be wrong.