From the Editor

Last Updated Mar 10, 2026, 1:01am EDT

  • Investor John Doerr is chairman of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.
  • Doerr joined the firm in 1980 after working at Intel and cofounding two companies.
  • He famously led Kleiner into Google in 1999, investing $12.5 million. He was also an early investor in Amazon, DoorDash, Slack and many more.
  • Doerr stepped down from his role leading the firm in 2016, ceding day-to-day leadership to fellow investor Ted Schlein.
  • He and his wife, Ann, pledged $1.1 billion to Stanford University in 2022 to launch a new school focused on sustainability.
Wealth History
HOVER TO REVEAL NET WORTH BY YEAR

Forbes Lists

list appearances

47

Personal Stats

Age
75
Source of Wealth
Venture capital, Self Made
Self-Made Score
8
Philanthropy Score
2
Residence
Woodside, California
Citizenship
United States
Marital Status
Married
Children
2
Education
Master of Business Administration, Harvard University; Bachelor of Arts/Science, Rice University; Master of Science, Rice University
Did you know
Doerr holds multiple patents for computer memory devices.
He came to Silicon Valley in 1975 with no job. He tried to get an internship with a VC firm and was turned down.
In Their Own Words

The two things you really look for in a company are a powerful team and a large market.

John Doerr
Related People & Companies
Amazon
Amazon
Holds stake in Amazon
View Profile
Andy Fang
Andy Fang
Related by financial asset: DoorDash, Inc
View Profile
Annie Lamont
Annie Lamont
Related by origin of wealth: Venture capital
View Profile
Ben Chestnut
Ben Chestnut
Related by financial asset: Intuit
View Profile
Bing Gordon
Bing Gordon
Related by employment: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
View Profile
Bloom Energy
Bloom Energy
Company Stakeholder
View Profile
Brad Smith
Brad Smith
Related by financial asset: Intuit
View Profile
Christa Brown-Sanford
Christa Brown-Sanford
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Dan Kurzius
Dan Kurzius
Related by financial asset: Intuit
View Profile
Daphne Koller
Daphne Koller
Related by financial asset: Coursera Inc
View Profile
Ilya Fushman
Ilya Fushman
Related by employment: Kleiner Perkins
View Profile
Intuit
Intuit
Holds stake in Intuit
View Profile
JB Straubel
JB Straubel
Related by financial asset: QuantumScape
View Profile
Jake Nyquist
Jake Nyquist
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Jarvis Sam III
Jarvis Sam III
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Joseph Krause
Joseph Krause
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Josh Kushner
Josh Kushner
Related by origin of wealth: Venture capital
View Profile
Lydia Kisley
Lydia Kisley
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott
Related by financial asset: Amazon
View Profile
Rice University
Rice University
Attended the school
View Profile
Alex Kurland
Alex Kurland
Related by employment: Kleiner Perkins
View Profile
Connor Heggie
Connor Heggie
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Grace Ge
Grace Ge
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
KR Sridhar
KR Sridhar
Related by financial asset: Bloom Energy Corp
View Profile
Maxwell Lee
Maxwell Lee
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Nichole Mustard
Nichole Mustard
Related by financial asset: Intuit
View Profile
Randy Komisar
Randy Komisar
Related by employment: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
View Profile
Rawand Rasheed
Rawand Rasheed
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Rhae Adams
Rhae Adams
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Sean Seton-Rogers
Sean Seton-Rogers
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Sid Bhattacharya
Sid Bhattacharya
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Stanley Tang
Stanley Tang
Related by financial asset: DoorDash, Inc
View Profile
Tony Chen
Tony Chen
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Tony Xu
Tony Xu
Related by financial asset: DoorDash, Inc
View Profile
Veronica Saron
Veronica Saron
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile
Walter Kortschak
Walter Kortschak
Related by origin of wealth: Venture capital
View Profile
Yiran Yang
Yiran Yang
Related by education: Rice University
View Profile

More on Forbes

Sep 19, 2017

John Doerr

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Forbes we sat with the 100 greatest living business minds, including John Doerr, chairman of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.