Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential and contrarian thinkers, known for backing companies that challenge consensus and reshape entire industries. As an early investor in Facebook and the first outside investor in several category-defining startups, Thiel helped popularize a philosophy centered on building monopolies through deep technology rather than incremental competition. Through Founders Fund, he has backed transformative ventures across software, defense, biotech, and space. Thiel’s impact extends beyond investing into ideas, shaping debates around technology, globalization, and the future of innovation.

Peter Szulczewski, founder and former CEO of Wish, built one of the world’s largest mobile-first e-commerce platforms by reimagining online shopping around price discovery and global supply chains. A former Google engineer, Szulczewski launched Wish to connect value-seeking consumers directly with manufacturers, prioritizing personalization, scale, and mobile engagement over traditional retail norms. Under his leadership, Wish grew rapidly worldwide and went public, becoming a defining—if unconventional—player in cross-border e-commerce. His career reflects a willingness to challenge entrenched retail models through engineering-led experimentation.

Paul Sciarra, cofounder of Pinterest, helped build one of the most distinctive consumer internet platforms by focusing on visual discovery and intent-driven inspiration. After early roles in venture capital and startups, Sciarra partnered with Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp to launch Pinterest, shaping its early product vision, fundraising, and growth into a global platform used by hundreds of millions. Following his time at Pinterest, he returned to investing and advising entrepreneurs, bringing a founder’s perspective to early-stage technology companies.

Patrick Collison, cofounder and CEO of Stripe, built one of the world’s most important financial infrastructure companies by making online payments programmable, global, and developer-friendly. Launching Stripe in 2010 with his brother John, Collison focused on simplifying complex banking rails into clean APIs, enabling millions of businesses—from startups to global enterprises—to transact online. Under his leadership, Stripe expanded into billing, fraud prevention, payouts, and financial tooling that power a large share of the internet economy. Known for intellectual rigor and long-term thinking, Collison has become a defining architect of modern fintech.

Parker Conrad, founder and CEO of Rippling, is a serial entrepreneur who built one of the fastest-growing workforce management platforms by unifying HR, IT, and finance into a single system of record. After early ventures including Zenefits, Conrad launched Rippling in 2016 with a focus on deep integration, automation, and global scalability, helping companies manage employees’ devices, payroll, benefits, and access from one platform. Known for product intensity and operational rigor, he has positioned Rippling as a category-defining company in modern enterprise software.

Nikil Viswanathan, cofounder and CEO of Alchemy, has built one of the most critical infrastructure companies in the Web3 ecosystem, providing the backend platform that powers thousands of blockchain applications. After graduating from Stanford, Viswanathan partnered with Joe Lau to launch Alchemy in 2017, positioning it as the developer layer for Ethereum and other major blockchains. Under his leadership, Alchemy scaled rapidly by focusing on reliability, tooling, and enterprise-grade infrastructure, earning adoption from leading crypto startups, Fortune 500 companies, and global institutions. Known for his product-driven mindset and ability to translate complex systems into usable platforms, Viswanathan has become a central figure in the maturation of blockchain technology.

Nathan Blecharczyk, cofounder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb, is the technical architect behind one of the world’s most influential travel platforms. After building Airbnb’s original website and payment systems, he helped scale the company from a startup renting air mattresses into a global marketplace operating in nearly every country. Blecharczyk has played a central role in shaping Airbnb’s long-term strategy, trust and safety infrastructure, and international expansion, while also serving as chairman of Airbnb China. Known for his engineering-first mindset and low public profile, he remains a key force behind the platform’s global growth and resilience.

Mike Speiser, managing partner at Sutter Hill Ventures, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalists, known for backing category-defining enterprise software and infrastructure companies at their earliest stages. Since joining the storied firm in the late 1990s, Speiser has led or co-led investments in transformative businesses such as Snowflake, Pure Storage, and NVIDIA-backed platforms, helping founders scale from technical breakthroughs to global market leaders. Renowned for Sutter Hill’s concentrated, long-term approach, Speiser combines deep technical insight with board-level stewardship, making him a central figure in the evolution of modern enterprise technology.

Sir Michael Moritz, legendary partner at Sequoia Capital, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalists, helping back transformative companies such as Google, PayPal, YouTube, Stripe, and Airbnb. A former Time magazine journalist turned investor, Moritz played a key role in shaping Sequoia’s disciplined, founder-focused strategy and global expansion. His philanthropic efforts—through the Crankstart Foundation—support education, social mobility, and civic initiatives in the U.S. and U.K. Moritz’s combination of narrative instinct, strategic clarity, and generational dealmaking has left an unrivaled mark on the tech landscape.

Max Lytvyn, cofounder and chief revenue officer of Grammarly, helped build one of the world’s most widely used AI-powered productivity platforms, transforming how people write and communicate online. A Ukrainian-born entrepreneur, Lytvyn co-founded Grammarly in 2009 alongside Alex Shevchenko and Dmytro Lider, scaling it from a niche grammar tool into a global company serving tens of millions of daily users across education, business, and consumer markets. While his cofounders focused on engineering and product, Lytvyn drove commercial strategy, partnerships, and enterprise adoption, playing a central role in Grammarly’s evolution into a multibillion-dollar software company at the forefront of applied AI.

Max Levchin, cofounder of PayPal and CEO of Affirm, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential fintech architects, having helped define digital payments, online identity, and modern consumer credit. As PayPal’s original CTO, Levchin built the company’s core anti-fraud and risk systems, laying the groundwork for one of the internet’s most successful financial platforms. He later founded Affirm to reinvent consumer lending with transparent, installment-based payments that challenge traditional credit cards. A prolific angel investor and cofounder of the Founders Fund, Levchin has backed and shaped dozens of iconic tech companies, earning a reputation for deep technical rigor, product-driven leadership, and long-term conviction.

Mark Pincus, founder and former CEO of Zynga, was a pioneer of social gaming, turning casual games into a mass-market phenomenon on Facebook and mobile platforms. After early ventures in internet services and venture capital, Pincus launched Zynga in 2007, scaling hits like FarmVille and Words With Friends into a multibillion-dollar business that went public in 2011. Known for his aggressive growth strategies and product experimentation, he later stepped back from daily operations while remaining an active investor and entrepreneur through Reinvent Capital. Pincus continues to influence consumer technology at the intersection of gaming, social interaction, and digital monetization.

Kevin Systrom, cofounder of Instagram, helped build one of the most influential social platforms of the modern era by combining minimalist design, mobile photography, and frictionless sharing. After early career stints at Google and Nextstop, he launched Instagram with Mike Krieger in 2010, growing it to millions of users in months and selling the company to Facebook for $1 billion in 2012 while continuing to expand it into a global cultural phenomenon. Known for his product craftsmanship and creator-focused approach, Systrom has since turned his attention to algorithmic news and discovery through his startup Artifact, while remaining a major voice in technology and entrepreneurship.

John Pritzker, hospitality investor and member of the Pritzker family behind Hyatt Hotels, has built a distinct legacy in luxury travel and lifestyle ventures through Geolo Capital, the private equity firm he founded in 2005. After early leadership roles at Hyatt and the family’s travel assets, he shifted toward boutique hospitality, backing high-end brands such as Two Roads Hospitality—later acquired by Hyatt in a landmark deal that returned him to the business his family helped create. Pritzker has focused on experiential hotels, wellness properties, and entertainment-driven real estate while maintaining a strong philanthropic presence in arts, education, and community causes. His career reflects a blend of entrepreneurial independence and deep industry heritage.

John Fisher, billionaire investor and owner of the San Francisco Giants–affiliated interests through Pisces, Inc., manages one of the most diversified private investment portfolios linked to the Fisher family, heirs to the Gap retail fortune. As president of Pisces, Fisher oversees long-term capital allocation across real estate, private equity, and strategic sports holdings, including his majority stake in Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics. Known for his discreet, media-averse style, he has built influence in professional sports ownership and large-scale development projects, while maintaining a complex role in the Athletics’ future and broader West Coast commercial investments.

John Collison, cofounder and president of Stripe, is one of the youngest self-made billionaires in tech, helping build the financial infrastructure that powers much of the modern internet economy. Alongside his brother Patrick, he launched Stripe in 2010 to simplify online payments for developers and businesses, growing it into a global platform used by millions of companies—from startups to industry giants like Amazon and Lyft. Known for his product discipline, engineering rigor, and long-term focus on expanding digital commerce, Collison has positioned Stripe as a cornerstone of global fintech, enabling seamless payments and financial services across over 100 countries.

John Bicket, co-founder and CTO of Samsara, turned a PhD-level tech project at MIT into a multibillion-dollar industrial Internet-of-Things company. After earlier selling his first startup, Meraki, to Cisco for $1.2 billion, Bicket teamed up with Sanjit Biswas in 2015 to build Samsara—fusing sensors, AI, and cloud software to monitor fleets, equipment, and field operations across thousands of enterprises. With stakes valued at around $3 billion each post-IPO, Bicket reflects the rare path from academic research to top-tier tech billionaire, while steering product strategy, engineering culture, and long-term innovation at the heart of the connected-operations era.

John A. Sobrato, founder of the Sobrato Organization, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential real estate developers, building a multibillion-dollar portfolio that houses many of the world’s leading technology companies. After selling one of the Bay Area’s earliest tech office parks in the 1970s, he expanded aggressively into commercial and multifamily properties across the region, creating a dominant privately held enterprise now managed alongside the second generation. A dedicated philanthropist, Sobrato has devoted much of his wealth to education, housing, and community development, with the family pledging to give away the majority of its net worth, solidifying his impact on both the business and social fabric of Northern California.

Jeff Lawson, cofounder and former CEO of Twilio, is a pioneering force in cloud communications whose vision reshaped how modern companies interact with customers. Launching Twilio in 2008 after stints at Amazon, StubHub, and founding multiple startups, Lawson championed the idea of programmable communication APIs that let developers embed messaging, voice, and authentication directly into applications. Under his leadership, Twilio grew into a multibillion-dollar public company powering communications for thousands of global enterprises. Known for his developer-first philosophy and product-driven leadership style, Lawson remains a defining figure in SaaS innovation and digital customer engagement.

Jay Paul, founder of the Jay Paul Company, is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential and discreet real estate developers, known for creating some of the region’s most valuable and sought-after corporate campuses. Since the 1970s, he has transformed underutilized land into cutting-edge office complexes occupied by tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Apple, while reshaping skylines with projects like San Francisco’s landmark 181 Fremont tower. Renowned for his long-term vision, premium building standards, and exceptional tenant relationships, Paul has built a multibillion-dollar empire that underpins the infrastructure of the modern tech economy—all while maintaining a notably private personal profile.