Business
Roelof Botha steps aside as Sequoia’s steward, passing the role to Alfred Lin and Pat Grady
After nearly a decade at the helm of Sequoia Capital, Roelof Botha will step aside as “steward” of the legendary Silicon Valley VC firm.
Botha—PayPal’s defining early CFO, who’s now known for backing companies like YouTube, Instagram, and Block—said Tuesday that he will pass the baton to Pat Grady and Alfred Lin.
“They have a fearlessness and resilience that’s necessary to win in this business,” Botha wrote in a letter that the firm post on X. “They do not shy away from difficult conversations, and they roll up their sleeves to company-build—both with founders and within Sequoia.”
Botha, who Fortune profiled last year, has presided over a tumultuous period in the history of Sequoia, which burst into the public most recently when the Financial Times reported that Sequoia COO Sumaiya Balbale resigned due to posts by Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire that she considered Islamophobic.
The firm—started in 1972 by Don Valentine, and a backer in the early days of companies like Atari and Apple—has experienced a number of big changes over recent years: In 2021, Sequoia restructured its United States and European funds into one evergreen fund, and two years later split off its China operations.
Botha, who was named Sequoia’s steward in 2017, said he will transition into a new role advising the partnership, while continuing to support Sequoia on the boards of startup companies he’s invested in. In making Lin and Grady co-stewards, Sequoia is returning to the successful formula last employed when partners Michael Moritz and Doug Leone served as co-stewards.
Lin—whose early career at Zappos and mathematical inclinations molded him into an early backer of companies like Airbnb and DoorDash—has been at Sequoia since 2010. Meanwhile, Grady’s been at Sequoia since 2007 and made his name as a key investor in companies like Snowflake, Zoom, and Okta.
The pair will face the immediate challenge of addressing the controversy over politics that has roiled the firm, at a time when many Silicon Valley venture firms are becoming increasingly outspoken on hot-button political and culture-war issues.
Sequoia has a longtime policy of “institutional neutrality,” while allowing partners the freedom to express their views individually. But that policy has been tested by Maguire’s comments, reportedly leading to discord within the firm.
At TechCrunch Disrupt last week, Botha declined to comment extensively on the controversy, but said of Maguire: “I think he has made it clear what he stands for, and there’s a particular set of founders for whom it is very appealing that he’s been as firm in his opinion. Does it come with tradeoffs? Yes it does.”
Sequoia is one of the most powerful venture firms in Silicon Valley, with $56 billion in assets under management and investments in startups including OpenAI, SpaceX, Stripe, Ramp, and Chainguard. Last week, the firm unveiled two new funds, a $200 million seed fund and a $750 million venture fund.
When reached for comment Sequoia directed Fortune to its LP letter, and Grady and Lin’s comments on X.
