Mary Meeker
Mary G. Meeker | |
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Born | Portland, Indiana |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater |
Cornell University DePauw University |
Occupation | Venture capitalist |
Mary Meeker (born September 1959) is an American venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst. Her primary work is on Internet and new technologies. She is a partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.[1][2] In 2014, she was listed as the 77th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[3]
Early life and education
Born in Portland, Indiana, Meeker holds a B.A. in psychology from DePauw University (1981) and an M.B.A. in finance from Cornell University (1986).[4]
Career
In 1982, Meeker joined Merrill Lynch as a stockbroker. After graduate school, she began as an analyst covering the technology sector at Salomon Brothers in 1986.[5] She worked for Cowen from 1990-1991 before moving to Morgan Stanley to specialize in covering the personal computer and consumer software industries.[6]
In August 1995, Morgan Stanley served as lead manager for the initial public offering of Netscape Communications. Later that year, Meeker and Chris DePuy at Morgan Stanley, published The Internet Report, a landmark Morgan Stanley industry report which became known as "the bible" for investors in the Dot com boom [7] and went into popular circulation — as a book, and on the web. Over the years, Morgan Stanley published similar landmark reports led by Meeker on online advertising, e-commerce, evolution of search, the Internet in China, and the mobile Internet.
Meeker was vilified in the press as one of a number of star analysts who were questioned in fraud investigations after the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000 to 2002.[8] Meeker was not charged with any wrongdoing. Morgan Stanley and nine other investment firms were compelled to participate in a global legal settlement.
In August 2004, Morgan Stanley (with Meeker as research analyst) served as lead manager for the initial public offering of Google.[9] Meeker was characterized by Andrew Serwer in Fortune magazine in 2006 as "absolutely first rate when it comes to spotting big-picture trends before they come into focus. She gathers massive amounts of data and assembles it into voluminous reports that, while sometimes rambling and overambitious, are stuffed with a million jumping-off points."[10] Meeker is often credited for her comprehensive, rapid fire, annual Internet industry overviews at the Web 2.0 conferences in San Francisco each autumn.
During Morgan Stanley's tumultuous period in April 2005 when CEO Phil Purcell's management decisions were being intensely scrutinized, Meeker, along with colleagues Steve Roach, Byron Wien, and Henry McVey, wrote a letter to then co-presidents Zoe Cruz and Steve Crawford that expressed their concerns about the damage to the culture of the firm.[11] The letter served as an important catalyst in increasing the focus of the board of directors on the depth of challenges facing Morgan Stanley at the time. In June 2005, John Mack was named CEO of Morgan Stanley, replacing Phil Purcell. A copy of the letter is included in Patricia Beard's book Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley published by HarperCollins, 2007. Meeker was named "one of the ten smartest people in tech" by Fortune magazine in 2010.[12]
In December 2010 Meeker left her position as a managing director at Morgan Stanley and head of the bank's global technology research team to become a partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where she has participated in over 20 different deals. Meeker serves on the boards of electronic signature provider DocuSign[13] and Peer-to-peer lending company Lending Club.[14]
In February 2011, Meeker created and compiled 'USA Inc.,' a non-partisan report that looked at the U.S. government (and its financials) from a business perspective. Successful stocks Meeker championed early on included Dell, Microsoft, Intuit, Netscape, AOL, Amazon.com, Yahoo!, eBay and Google. Failed picks included AOL after its takeover of Time Warner, Excite@Home, and drugstore.com.
Meeker was one of the witnesses in the Ellen Pao gender discrimination lawsuit.[15] In 2014, she was listed as the 77th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[3]
References
- ↑ Constine, Josh (5 November 2012). "Mary Meeker Gives Mid-Year Internet Trends Report: Android Adoption Ramping Up 6X Faster Than iPhone". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ↑ "Mary Meeker Profile". Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
- 1 2 "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ↑ "Internet Analyst Mary Meeker '81 to Address Web 2.0 Conference". DePauw University. 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ Craig, Susanne (2010-11-29). "Mary Meeker leaving Morgan Stanley". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ Gustin, Sam (2012-07-19). "The Ten Most Influential Women in Technology". Time. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ Green, Heather (September 27, 1999). "Mary G. Meeker". Businessweek. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
- ↑ Asbrand, Deborah (2001-04-27). "Mary Meeker Speaks, But Probably Shouldn't". The Industry Standard. Archived from the original on 2006-04-25. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
- ↑ "Newsweek Interview". Newsweek. 2004-08-22. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ Serwer, Andy (2006-05-15). "Mary Meeker 2.0". Fortune. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ Smith, Randall; Davis, Ann (2005-05-09). "At Morgan Stanley, Some Worry Clash Endangers Culture". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ "The smartest people in tech". Fortune. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
- ↑ Helft, Miguel (13 July 2012). "DocuSign raises $47.5 million, adds Mary Meeker to board". Fortune. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ↑ McBride, Sarah (6 June 2012). "Mary Meeker Breaks Her Investment Fast". Reuters. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
- ↑ Kulwin, Noah (2015-03-23). "A who's who of the Kleiner Perkins-Ellen Pao trial". Recode. Retrieved 2015-10-02.