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Vinod Khosla

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Vinod Khosla
Born (1955-01-28) 28 January 1955 (age 69)
Delhi, India
Alma materIIT Delhi
Carnegie Mellon University
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Occupation(s)Venture capitalist, Khosla Ventures
SpouseNeeru Khosla
ChildrenNina, Anu, Vani and Neal

Vinod Khosla (Gurmukhi: ਵਿਨੋਦ ਖੋਸਲਾ; born 28 January 1955) is an Indian/American businessman listed by Forbes magazine as a billionaire.[1] Khosla made his early fortune as one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems, where he was the founding CEO and chairman in the early 1980s.

Early life and education

Khosla's father was an officer in the Indian Army and was posted at New Delhi, India.[2]

Khosla read about the founding of Intel in Electronic Engineering Times at the age of fourteen and this inspired him to pursue technology as a career. He attended Mount St Mary's School in Delhi. He went on to receive multiple degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering), Carnegie Mellon University (Masters in Biomedical Engineering), and Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA).[3]

Career

In 1980, after post-graduating from Stanford University, Khosla worked for electronic design automation company Daisy Systems.

In 1982, Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems (SUN is the acronym for the Stanford University Network), along with Stanford classmates Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and UC Berkeley computer science graduate student Bill Joy. Khosla served as the first chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems from 1982 to 1984, when he left the company to become a venture capitalist.

In 1987, Khosla joined the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a general partner. At Kleiner, Khosla became a recognized venture capitalist, with several successful early stage investments. Khosla also played a key role with several of the tech industry's most spectacular failures, including Asera, Dynabook, BroadBand Office, Excite@Home, and many others.[citation needed]

He also invested in an Indian microfinance company, SKS Microfinance, which lends small loans to poor women in rural India. Khosla is also one of the founders of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, and has guest-edited a special issue of The Economic Times (ET), a leading business newspaper in India.

Khosla was featured on Dateline NBC in May 2006, where he discussed the practicality of ethanol as a gasoline substitute.[4] He is known[by whom?] to have invested heavily in ethanol companies, in hopes of widespread adoption.

Khosla was a major proponent of the "Yes on 87" campaign to pass California's Proposition 87, The Clean Energy Initiative, which failed to pass in November 2006.

In 2006, Khosla's wife Neeru co-founded the CK-12 Foundation, which aims to develop open source textbooks and lower the cost of education in America and the rest of the world. Khosla and his wife are also donors to the Wikimedia Foundation, in the amount of $500,000.[5]

Khosla Ventures

Main article: Khosla Ventures

Khosla formed his own venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures in 2004. The firm is based in Menlo Park, California,[6] and manages approximately $1 billion of investor capital as well as investments funded by Khosla himself.[7]

In September 2009, Khosla completed fundraising for two new funds, to invest in cleantech and information technology start-ups. Khosla Ventures III secured $750 million of investor commitments to invest in traditional early stage and growth stage companies. Khosla also raised $250 million for Khosla Seed, which will invest in higher-risk opportunities.

In May 2010, it was announced that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was to join Khosla Ventures to provide strategic advice regarding investments in technologies focused on the environment[8][failed verification]. Khosla Ventures[9] also invested in HackerRank.

Other accomplishments and affiliations

In addition to his role in founding Sun Microsystems, Khosla has founded a number of other businesses and organizations. Khosla was also involved with the founding of Daisy Systems in 1981.[3] He is also one of the founders of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, and has guest-edited a special issue of Economic Times (ET), a leading business newspaper in India.[citation needed]

Khosla served as the Honorary Chair of the DonorsChoose San Francisco Bay Area Advisory Board.[citation needed] In 2007, Khosla was an Award Recipient in the Northern California region for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[10] In addition, Khosla is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley.[11] The Center is focused on finding solutions to address the crisis of extreme poverty and disease in the developing world.[12] He is also one of the advisors for HackerRank,which has developed a platform for technology companies to evaluate candidates' programming skills.[13]

Martin's Beach dispute

Khosla is engaged in a legal dispute surrounding public access to Martin's Beach, several miles south of Half Moon Bay, California, where he owns adjacent land.[14][15][16] His attempts to close the beach by erecting a gate with armed guards at the road entrance and painting over the welcome sign that existed prior to his ownership of the property has been the subject of legal challenges, popular resentment, and extensive press coverage.[17] Khosla won an early judgment in the California courts that determined he has a right to control the beach via the Mexican land rights guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.[18] However, his ability to restrict access was also challenged in a suit brought by the Surfrider Foundation.[19][20] Khosla ultimately lost that suit, and San Mateo Superior Court ordered that he could not restrict public access to the beach without first obtaining a permit from the California Coastal Commission.[21] In October 2014 Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation to re-open the beach to the public.[22]

Martin's Beach was previously a popular family beach and surf spot before Khosla purchased the property adjacent to the beach and blocked access. The previous owners of the land had allowed the public to park at the beach for a fee, but remained free to walk down. Khosla won a victory in May 2014, when Judge Gerald Buchwald issued a ruling which concluded that Martin's Beach LLC 1 and 2, the formal owners of Martin's Beach, can block public access to the beach, due to an exemption granted by the treaty which ended the Mexican-American war. The judge concluded that Khosla's property is not subject to aspects of the California Constitution because it was originally a rancho that predated the State.[23] The Surfrider Foundation filed a second lawsuit against Khosla for violations of the California Coastal Act.[24] Khosla lost the second suit and Judge Barbara Mallach issued her final order for Khosla to open the gate.[25] Former Congressman Pete McCloskey said about the land closure, "To put a rope across the road and say, 'The hell with you' — I'd call it the arrogance of great wealth."[26]

Khosla told the state that he would sell a small slice of his property in order to enable members of the public to gain access to the beach again. The offer was for $30M, almost as much as Khosla spent on the property ($32M).[27]

The Martin's beach dispute is referenced in Martti Vallila's Bannana in the Legal Gulag; Exposing Trickery and Manipulation,[28] Amazon, 2015 which also describes disputes between Khosla and Russian inventor Vladimir Poponin.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Midas List: Forbes 400 #63 Vinod Khosla". Forbes. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Vinod Khosla Biography". Scribd. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b Bhide, Amar V. (14 December 1989), Vinod Khosla and Sun Microsystems (A), Harvard Business Publishing
  4. ^ Phillips, Stone (7 May 2006). "A simple solution to pain at the pump?". Dateline NBC. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  5. ^ Cadelago, Chris (24 August 2008). "Wikimedia pegs future on education, not profit". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Khosla Ventures: Our Team". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Brain scan: Betting on green". The Economist. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  8. ^ LaMonica, Martin (1 September 2009). "Khosla Ventures piles up $1 billion for green tech". CNET News. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Khosla Venture invests in HackerRank".
  10. ^ "Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011(R) Northern California Semifinalists Demonstrate Increased Confidence in Economy." Yaho Finance. N.p., 8 June 2011. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Ffinance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2FErnst-Young-Entrepreneur-Of-iw-1429809172.html>.
  11. ^ "Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies". blumcenter.berkeley.edu. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Mission". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  13. ^ "Listed as advisor in HackerRank Team page".
  14. ^ Kinney, Aaron (24 October 2013). "Vinod Khosla wins key Martins Beach battle". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  15. ^ Newman, Bruce (29 October 2012). "Mysterious owner of San Mateo County beach paradise is asked to let the outside world in". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  16. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Martins Beach
  17. ^ Romney, Lee (12 May 2014). "Billionaire who barred access to Martin's Beach takes stand". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  18. ^ Gutierrez, Melody (28 May 2014). "Martins Beach fight heads to state Capitol". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  19. ^ Kinney, Aaron (2 October 2013). "Setback for Martins Beach access movement". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  20. ^ Fimrite, Peter (22 June 2014). "Surfers sue over blocked beach access". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  21. ^ blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/09/24/martins-beach-ruling-superior-court-judge/
  22. ^ Pacifica Tribune 14 October 2014 MercuryNews. "Governor signs Martins Beach legislation SB 968 calls for negotiations to begin with Silicon Valley Billionaire to restore public access to the beach"
  23. ^ Romney, Lee (25 October 2013). "Venture capitalist wins round in fight to block public beach access". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  24. ^ Fimrite, Peter (13 May 2014). "Martins Beach billionaire evades questions on stand". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  25. ^ Fimrite, Peter (8 December 2014). "Judge orders billionaire to open gate to Martines Beach". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  26. ^ Smith, Chris A. (26 March 2014). "Bummer Beach". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  27. ^ A billionaire is willing to bring back public access to Martins Beach — for a price, LA Times Sunday April 24, 2016
  28. ^ marttivallila.com
Preceded by
first
 CEO of Sun Microsystems
1982–1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
first
 Chairman of Sun Microsystems
1982–1984 		Succeeded by
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