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Open in TheBrain

Draper, Tim

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grow ca 8 26 glossy gaizy vague ads, no donor info yt? stream?

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Ripple Co-Founder Leads $40M Push to Counter California Wealth Tax

crypto tax

Ripple

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and Tim Draper launched Grow California, a $40 million political initiative targeting moderate legislators to counter a proposed wealth tax.

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Anas Hassan

Last updated:

February 1, 2026

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Ripple Co-Founder Leads $40M Push to Counter California Wealth Tax

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper have launched Grow California, a $40 million political initiative designed to elect moderate state legislators and push back against labor unions, with a proposed wealth tax serving as the primary catalyst for Silicon Valley’s latest political mobilization.

According to NYT, the effort, which began with $5 million checks from each founder in September, represents one of the most significant financial commitments from the tech and crypto sectors to reshape California politics.

The ballot measure that triggered this response, backed by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time 5% tax on net worth exceeding $1 billion, including unrealized gains on assets not yet sold.

“Whoever designed that wealth tax in the unions — wow,” Larsen said. “They woke up the sleeping giant like I have never seen.“

Ripple California Wealth Tax - Chris Larsen Image

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. | Source: Bloomberg

Tech Billionaires Challenge Union Influence With Business-Friendly Candidates

Larsen, whose net worth is nearly $15 billion from Ripple holdings and crypto assets, said he expects to personally commit $30 million to the organization.

“If it takes a couple of cycles, fine — that’s what we’re here for,” he told The New York Times when asked about potential November losses.

The group plans to target about a dozen state legislative seats this year, focusing on public safety, homelessness, and budget discipline, according to Shaudi Fulp, the former Sacramento lobbyist leading daily operations.

While Democrats control more than two-thirds of seats in both legislative chambers, Grow California will not engage in the 2026 gubernatorial race or expensive ballot proposition campaigns.

Both founders come from the crypto industry, though they stress that the initiative does not represent the interests of the crypto sector specifically.

Larsen acknowledged learning lessons from Fairshake, the crypto super PAC backed by Ripple that spent over $100 million shaping the current Congress.

Draper, known for Bitcoin-themed accessories and his persistent campaign to split California into multiple states, did not respond to requests for comment.

“The government unions do a great job,” Larsen said, adding with a laugh, “I have respect for the job that they’ve done. They show up, and they’re there consistently. But that’s going to clash with a lot of the things that are going to make California successful if there’s no counterforce.“

California Crypto Politics Intensifies Amid Governor Race And Regulatory Expansion

The wealth tax debate coincides with former Assembly member Ian Calderon’s entry into the 2026 gubernatorial race on a pro-Bitcoin platform.

Calderon, 39, who served as Assembly Majority Leader from 2016 to 2020, declared his vision for California to become “the undisputed leader on Bitcoin” in his campaign announcement video.

Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom has intensified criticism of President Donald Trump’s crypto-related pardons, launching a state-backed website tracking what his office calls “criminal cronies.“

The site prominently features Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who received a full pardon in October after serving four months for Bank Secrecy Act violations, and Ross Ulbricht, whose life sentence for Silk Road operations was commuted.

Beyond political battles, California continues advancing digital asset infrastructure through the Digital Financial Assets Law, which takes effect in July 2025 and requires all crypto service providers to obtain state licenses.

The Assembly also unanimously passed AB 1180 in June, creating a pilot program for state fee payments using digital assets that runs through 2031.

Global Tax Frameworks Contrast California’s Uncertain Trajectory

While California debates wealth taxation, other jurisdictions are implementing clearer crypto tax structures.

Japan’s 2026 tax reform blueprint reduces crypto taxation from up to 55% to a flat 20% for specified digital assets handled by registered businesses, though the exact qualifying criteria remain undefined.

Similarly, the European Union’s DAC8 tax transparency law took effect on January 1, requiring crypto exchanges and service providers to collect and report user information to national tax authorities, with data sharing between EU countries beginning July 1.

“Tax authorities now have an automated dashboard tracking your digital assets,” wrote Bitcoin educator Heidi Chakos.

However, just like California, South Korea faces mounting uncertainty over its repeatedly delayed crypto tax regime, now scheduled for January 2027 despite lacking essential infrastructure.

Switzerland also postponed the automatic exchange of crypto account information with foreign tax authorities until at least 2027, though legal frameworks take effect in January 2026.

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duck 8 26

growcalifornia.org

https://www.growcalifornia.org

Grow California

Grow California believes government matters and that public service deserves respect. We restore confidence by setting clear expectations and tying public investments to data-driven, real-world results that improve affordability, opportunity, and daily life.

New York Post

https://nypost.com › 2026 › 01 › 30 › us-news › billionaires-chris-larsen-tim-draper-launch-anti-union-pac

Billionaires Chris Larsen, Tim Draper launch anti-union PAC

Jan 31, 2026California crypto billionaires Chris Larsen and Tim Draper are pouring millions into a political group called Grow California.

Santa Rosa Press Democrat

https://www.pressdemocrat.com › 2026 › 05 › 18 › billionaires-grow-california-jackie-elward-california-assembly

Crytpo billionaires bankroll $500,000 in ads targeting Sonoma County ...

May 18, 2026Grow California, founded by crypto titans Chris Larsen and Tim Draper, seeks to curb the power of unions in the state Legislature. Its attack ads target union-backed candidates.

abc10.com

https://www.abc10.com › article › news › local › california › california-problem-solvers-caucus-focus-of-new-ad-blitz › 103-0e231042-bdf6-4e93-bdeb-a52291089ea2

California Problem Solvers Caucus focus of new ad blitz

Aug 12, 2026A new ad campaign by Grow California highlights the Problem Solvers Caucus, highlighting bipartisan efforts to improve affordability in California.

New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com › 2026 › 01 › 30 › us › politics › crypto-billionaires-try-to-build-a-moderate-counterforce-in-california-politics.html

California Crypto Billionaires Plan to Spend Tens of Millions on ...

Jan 30, 2026Two prominent billionaires in the tech and crypto industries plan to spend tens of millions of dollars this year in a bid to elect moderate state legislators in California and push back against ...

Crowdfund Insider

https://www.crowdfundinsider.com › 2026 › 02 › 259475-grow-california-crypto-advocates-look-to-support-moderates-some-republican-politicians-in-california

Grow California: Crypto Advocates Look to Support Moderates, Some ...

Feb 2, 2026Grow California, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt entity, is a recently launched advocacy group that aims to alter the trajectory of California to a more effective

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But that's not the only Reagan policy to come straight from the Grove.

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This one book tells the story of a Reagan advisor being persuaded to cut capital gains taxes

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by iconic investor Bill Draper while they, quote, sat semi-naked at the Grove.

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That little change is what enabled the high risk investment model of the venture capital business,

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which spawned the tech industry as we know it today.

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Draper was on the 2023 attendee list, still attending The Grove 42 years later,

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as was his son Tim Draper, also in venture capital,

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that's another important part of this, the generational membership families

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that have been passing on power for generations,

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both in the form of wealth and these connections. And one of these families

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founded one of the most influential groups in American history. That's dark money.

7:01

Do any of these names ring a bell? Charles Koch,

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Obviously.

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Coors...

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Pete Coors is the son of Joseph Coors Sr, himself the son of Adolph Coors all three of the Coors

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beer empire.

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But the real legacy of Coors isn't beer.

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https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/experts-say-splitting-california-3-states-just-another-silicon-valley-fantasy

...If  it were to pass, the measure would have to receive approval from California Legislature and the United States Congress. It would not be an easy journey, and many experts are already critical of it, but if the 2016 presidential election has taught America anything, it is that rich people are pretty good at getting their way in politics.

“The obstacles would be large,” historian Michael Kazin, co-editor of Dissent magazine and a professor at Georgetown University, told Salon in an email. “The only way this would happen, I think, is if the referendum wins a huge majority and if neither national party thinks it would gain an advantage over the other . Neither of those is likely.”

Despite its low probability of passing, the proposal, and the reasons why rich people seem so interested in breaking up the Golden State, are worth examining in closer detail. Indeed, the Three Californias proposal seems symptomatic of the sense of entitlement innate to many high-profile Silicon Valley leaders, as I have previously written about in the context of sexual harassment in the tech industry. Draper epitomizes the financier who thinks his political ideas are innately superior and that he is above the law.

Experts I spoke with agreed.

“What this shows is that with relatively low signature requirements and a few million dollars, virtually any proposal can get onto the ballot -- especially if it's symbolic and taps into general public disgruntlement with government,” Renée Van Vechten, a political scientist at the University of Redlands, told Salon in an email. “How such a break-up would proceed is anyone's guess, so imagining who would benefit specifically is a fair bit of fiction.”

“The organized tend to be well-funded and heavily-resourced, meaning they have disproportionate amounts of disposable time, money, knowledge, ownership of or influence over large parts of the economy, understanding of government processes, etcetera... typically these are business interests, labor unions, and elites who have the most to lose through a disruption to the status quo and will go into protection mode if their livelihoods or interests are threatened,” she said. “Those entities can and do use government processes to their advantage, or they hire persuaders (lobbyists) who can do it for them.”I asked Van Vechten if the proposal would benefit the rich; she said yes, however, anyone who was politically well-organized would benefit — a category that generally includes the rich.

Draper has the resources for this initiative. He donated $1 million, chump change for someone with an estimated $1 billion net worth. He comes from Silicon Valley money and royalty; Fortune magazine called the Drapers “the industry’s first family.”Draper is a cryptocurrency enthusiast; he reportedly won an auction by the US Marshals of nearly 30,000 Bitcoins, which were seized from the online black market Silk Road. He is an investor in Skype and Tesla. He was also an investor in the infamously perjurious biotech startup Theranos, and recently publicly defended its CEO Elizabeth Holmes — who was recently indicted on fraud charges — saying she did “a great job.”

"[Cal 3] is an idea that came from a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, [and] often times these people have libertarian ideas of getting rid of the government and starting from scratch,” Nancy Hudspeth, an assistant professor of political science and public administration at California State University, Stanislaus told Salon. “One of the things wealthy people are looking at is a way to reduce taxes.”

Yet Cal 3 claims to be a nonpartisan movement.

...

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not exactly self made bootstrap guy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/07/california-6-states_n_4890982.html

It would be Ayn Rand's dream come true: separate states for rich people and poor people.

A proposal to split California into six states, introduced by billionaire investor Tim Draper in December, would formally create state lines between the haves and the have-nots.

"You'd be creating one exceptionally wealthy state and others with dire poverty," Corey Cook, a political science professor at the University of San Francisco, said to The Huffington Post. "You'd create massive inequality."

While the plan has little chance of becoming a reality, it's just the latest troubling sign that the rich are leaning in to the rising levels of inequality in the U.S. and increasingly seeking to break away from the middle- and lower-classes, depriving them of tax revenue and choking off much-needed resources.

Here's how the plan looks: See full-size image here. (Story continues below.)...

Draper told HuffPost that he initially dreamed up the proposal because California is so large that it has become "ungovernable." He said that his plan would help poor parts of the state because their unique needs would be better heard by smaller, local governments. He has until mid-July to collect the 807,615 signatures needed to get his proposal on the state's 2014 ballot. He hasn't started gathering signatures yet.

Perhaps nowhere in the U.S. is income inequality as extreme as in California. One in four of its citizens live in poverty. Yet the state has the highest number of ultra-rich people in the country. The state deeply needs the tax revenue from the wealthy to support those who are less well-off. Under Draper's plan, this critical tax revenue redistribution would be lost.

Splitting up the state would "widen the chasms in education, incarceration and wealth that are already greater than they were 25 years ago," said Larry Gerston, professor of political science at San Jose State University.

Draper isn't alone in wanting to segregate rich and poor. Airlines are increasingly offering their wealthy clients more physical distance from the masses in coach. United and Delta now have private airport suites for first-class travelers, and will drive high-end passengers from one gate to another in luxury cars.

And then there are school districts. In the past two years, wealthy neighborhoods in several states have launched campaigns to break away from school districts that include poor communities. This has taken place in Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, California and Tennessee, and some of the efforts have been successful.

Elsewhere, many affluent Americans prefer to live in exclusive neighborhoods. It's common for wealthy residents of Southern Californiaand Silicon Valley to live in gated communities, which often employ private security rather than relying on public police officers. And the security may be for a good reason. In the non-gated Lindenwood neighborhood, near Silicon Valley, average home prices exceed $7 million. Vandals recently spray-painted black graffiti on the 1 percent's walls, garages and white picket fences.

In the last decade, several cities in Georgia have broken off from the state and become largely autonomous, with many locals citing a poorly run state government. The first city to do so was the affluent Sandy Springs, where almost all public services have since been privatized. Without needing to provide to poverty-stricken surrounding communities, Sandy Springs, where the average family income is $169,815, can now reportedly keep taxes lower and stay out of debt.

The tech world is particularly keen on leaving government behind to create its own utopia. Investor Peter Thiel has raised over $25,000 to build the world's first floating tech island, free from government constraints. Google CEO Larry Page wants to "set aside a part of the world" for regulation-free tech experiments. And Balaji Srinivasan, the co-founder of genetics company Counsyl, calls "Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit" from civil society inevitable, and advocates for a techno-utopian island in the ocean. Meanwhile, the "campuses" of Google, Facebook, Apple and other Silicon Valley tech giants are essentially autonomous urban centers where an employee can see a dentist and take private buses to and from work.

While Draper's plan is more democratic than building an island free of the world's problems, critics say it reflects the same mentality of "figure it out yourself" instead of "we're in this together." "It’s a way for some folks to get rid of the riffraff," Gerston said. "Let's do some surgery and cut out this part and that part so that now we only have this nice part that we like."

Timothy Cook "Tim" Draper (born June 11, 1958) is an American venture capital investor, and 1985 founder of the firm that would become Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ).[3] Draper is also the founder of Draper Associates and Draper University. In July 2014, Draper received wide coverage[4] for his purchase at a US Marshals Service auction of seized bitcoins from the Silk Road marketplace website.

Contents

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Background and early life

Draper is the third in a line of venture capitalists. He is the son of Phyllis (Culbertson) and William Henry Draper III, who founded the Draper & Johnson Investment Company in 1962 and was chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. His grandfather, William Henry Draper Jr., founded Draper, Gaither and Anderson in 1958.[3]

He has a degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University,[5] and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1984.[3]

Financial career

In 1985, Draper left the bank Alex, Brown & Sons to start his own venture capital firm; former officemate John H.N. Fisher became a partner in 1991, and business student Steve Jurvetson became the third partner in the firm.[6]

In 2013 he announced his departure from Draper Fisher Jurvetson.[7]

Hotmail and viral marketing

Although the history of the term is not fully clear, it is commonly argued that Draper and Jurvetson "invented viral marketing" in 1996, due to their idea of automatically attaching a brief advertising message to the bottom of outgoing Hotmail emails,[8] though the neologism itself is documented as early as a 1989 edition of PC User.[9]

Skype

Tim Draper's father, Bill Draper, was an earlier investor in Skype, and DFJ came to back Skype in 2004.[10][11] The company owned 10% of Skype in 2005 when it was sold to eBay for US$4.1 billion.[12]

Bitcoin auction

On June 27, 2014, Draper purchased for an undisclosed price nearly 30,000 bitcoins which had been seized by the US Marshals service and auctioned to the public.[13]The accumulation of bitcoins was estimated to be worth US$19 million at the time.[14][15]

On January 27, 2015, Tim Draper wagered about $400,000 (which is 2000 bitcoins with $200 price) that the bitcoin will rebound from its recent plunge.[16]

Politics

Draper has spoken out against Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, stating that they limit the viability of taking companies public.[17]

In 2000, Draper spent $20 million on a failed measure to support school vouchers.[18]

Six Californias

In early 2014, Draper filed a petition which was accepted by California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen to begin collecting signatures to divide California into six smaller states, arguing that California is "increasingly ungovernable" as one state.[19] However, on September 12, 2014, it was announced the plan fell short of the required amount of valid signatures to land it on the 2016 ballot.[20] Draper spent in excess of $5 million to try to qualify the proposition for the ballot, with nearly $450,000 just for political consultants.[21]

Educational program

In 2013, Draper launched Draper University of Heroes, an educational program that offers a crash course in entrepreneurship. The university's residential program is based in San Mateo, California, and the curriculum is designed by Draper.[22]

References

  1. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/business-executives/timothy-c-draper-net-worth/
  2. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/15/style/melissa-lee-parker-becomes-the-bride-of-timothy-cook-draper-in-california.html
  3. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b ^c Entrepreneurs page, Harvard Business School website, accessed April 16, 2014'.
  4. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Ember, Sydney. "Venture Capitalist Tim Draper Wins Small Piece of Bitcoin Auction". The New York Times.
  5. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Melissa Lee Parker Becomes the Bride Of Timothy Cook Draper in California, New York Times, August 15, 1982.
  6. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Deborah Perry Piscione (April 2, 2013). *Secrets of Silicon Valley: What Everyone Else Can Learn from the Innovation Capital of the World*. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 129–. ISBN 978-1-137-32421-4.
  7. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Exclusive: Tim Draper is leaving DFJ". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  8. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Helen Powell; Jonathan Hardy; Sarah Hawkin; Iain MacRury (September 13, 2013). *Advertising Handbook*. Routledge. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-1-134-71892-4.
  9. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Justin Kirby; Paul Marsden (June 7, 2007). *Connected Marketing*. Routledge. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-1-136-41564-7.
  10. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Skype Closes 'B' Round Funding from Top Venture Capitalists" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2004-03-15. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  11. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Bruce J. Schulman (2014). *Making the American Century: Essays on the Political Culture of Twentieth Century America*. Oxford University Press. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-19-984541-5.
  12. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Ori Brafman; Rod A. Beckstrom (2006). *The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations*. Penguin. pp. 176–. ISBN 978-1-59184-143-2.
  13. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Ember, Sydney (July 2, 2014). "Venture Capitalist Tim Draper Wins Bitcoin Auction". New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  14. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Harrison Weber (July 2, 2014). "Someone just bought $19M in bitcoins seized by the U.S. government (updated)". VentureBeat.
  15. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ McMillan, Robert (1 July 2014). "Someone Just Bought $19M in Silk Road Bitcoins From the Feds". Wired. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  16. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Olga Kharif (January 27, 2015). "Venture Capitalist Draper Bets $400,000 More on Bitcoin Revival". Bloomberg.
  17. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ David Lawsky and Anupreeta Das (May 22, 2009). "Draper helps take companies "prublic:{":(style="padding-right:0.2em"):}:". Reuters.
  18. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Carla Marinucci. July 15, 2014 . Six Californias measure heading for 2016 ballot, backers say. SFGate. Retrieved: July 15, 2014.
  19. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Kayle Fields, Petition to Split California Into Six States Gets Green Light, ABC News, February 19, 2014.
  20. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Chris Megerian (September 12, 2014). ":{':(style="padding-left:0.2em"):}:Six Californias' plan falls short of making November 2016 ballot". Los Angeles Times.
  21. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Cadelago, Christopher (April 29, 2015). ":{':(style="padding-left:0.2em"):}:Risk master' Tim Draper soliciting ideas for next ballot proposal". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  22. :{Jump up:(style="user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Kinney, Aaron (April 17, 2013). "San Mateo: Draper University welcomes first class of entrepreneurial 'superheroes:{':(style="padding-right:0.2em"):}:". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved July 2, 2014.

Categories: 

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William Henry Draper III (born January 15, 1928) is an American venture capitalist.

Contents

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Early life and career

Draper was born on January 15, 1928 in White Plains, New York, the son of Katherine Louise (née Baum) and banker, general, and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr.[1]His father founded Draper, Gaither and Anderson.He attended Yale University with president George H. W. Bush, graduated in 1950, the year after George H. W. Bush, and is a member of the secret society Skull and Bones. After graduating from college, Draper served as a second lieutenant in the Korean War. Upon returning to the United States, he attended Harvard Business School and studied under professor Georges Doriot, who is often credited with starting the venture capital industry. Draper graduated with a Masters of Business degree, with distinction, in 1954. He then worked from 1954-1959 as a steel salesman at Chicago's Inland Steel Company.

Early venture capital

In 1959, Draper left Chicago to work as an associate at his father's newly formed firm, Draper, Gaither & Anderson, the first venture capital company on the West Coast. In 1962, Draper left Draper, Gaither & Anderson to co-found the venture capital firm Draper & Johnson Investment Company with his good friend Pitch Johnson, whom he had met while working at Inland Steel. In 1965, Draper founded Sutter Hill Ventures, which to this day remains one of the top venture capital firms in the country. During his twenty years as the senior partner of Sutter Hill, Draper helped to organize and finance several hundred high technology manufacturing companies.In 1986, he became the head of the world's largest source of multilateral development grant assistance, the United Nations Development Programme, and was instrumental in leadership of several global initiatives, such as the international Education for All movement (beginning formally with the 1990 Conference in Jomtien, Thailand), the 1995 Beijing Women's' Conference, and the 1995 Social Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sabbatical from Silicon Valley – public service

Draper has played an international leadership role in expanding the world economy and the global wealth gap.[2] He served from 1981 to 1986 as President and Chairman of the Export–Import Bank of the United States and was appointed to this position by President Ronald Reagan. In this post, Draper assumed a leadership role in U.S. efforts to sustain world trade in the face of major liquidity problems among the developing countries.

In 1986, he became the head of the world's largest source of multilateral development grant assistance, the United Nations Development Programme.[3] As the second highest ranking individual in the United Nations, Draper oversaw nearly 10,000 international aid projects. During his time at the UN and the Export-Import Bank, Draper traveled to 101 developing countries and met with over 50 heads of state.[citation ^needed]^

Return to venture capital

In 1994, Draper and Robin Richards Donohoe founded Draper International, the first U.S. venture capital fund to focus on investing in private companies with operations in India. In 2002, he co-founded Draper Richards LP, a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage technology companies in the U.S., and he also founded Draper Investment Company, which concentrates on seed investments in Europe and Asia.

The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

In 2002, along with Robin Richards Donohoe, Draper co-founded the Draper Richards Foundation. Robert S. Kaplan, formerly vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs and currently the thirteenth president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, joined as co-chair in 2010.

The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is a global venture philanthropy firm that supports early stage, high impact social enterprises. The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation believes that with early funding and rigorous support, exceptional leaders, tackling some of society’s most complex problems, can make the world a better place. The Draper Richard Kaplan Foundation finds, funds and supports these organizations with three years of unrestricted funding and actively partners with them to help them build their organizations to scale and achieve their mission.

The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation invests in early stage organizations and is often times the first institutional investor and first “outside” board member for these organizations. They invest in a variety of sectors. Their current portfolio includes organizations working both domestically and internationally helping to provide critical access to healthcare, education, food security, social justice, water and sanitation, transparency and accountability, and shelter.

Since starting in 2002, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation has invested in 96 social entrepreneurs working in a variety of issue areas and their results speak for themselves, as one of the earliest funders of Kiva, Room to Read, GrassRoots Soccer, One Acre Fund, The Mission Continues, Food Corp and many others. Currently, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is launching their third fund of $65 million to support the next generation of 100 social enterprises that can change the world.

Community service

As a civic leader, Draper has been involved in many community service programs. He is currently on the boards of the Atlantic Council, The Draper Richards Foundation, Hoover Institution, Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies at Stanford University, World Affairs Council of Northern California, the United Nations Association of the United States of America and the Harvard Business School California Research Center Advisory Board. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the President’s Council on International Activities at Yale University.

Draper formerly served as the Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, Chairman of the Institute of International Education, as a Trustee of Yale University and as Chairman of the Board of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco; he was a former Board member of Population Action International, George Bush Library Foundation, the Advisory Council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the World Rehabilitation Fund in New York. Draper currently sits on the advisory board of Washington, DC based non-profit America Abroad Media.[4]

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