Sequoia Capital

Sequoia was founded by Don Valentine in 1972 in Menlo Park, California, at a time when the state's venture capital industry was just beginning to develop. Sequoia formed its first venture capital fund in 1974, and was an early investor in Atari the next year. In 1978, Sequoia became one of the first investors in Apple. Partners Doug Leone and Michael Moritz assumed leadership of the firm in 1996.

In 1999, Sequoia established a dedicated investment fund for Israeli startups. In 2005, Sequoia Capital China was established, later followed by Sequoia Capital India. In 2012, Moritz took a step back from the day-to-day operations of the firm. Leone became Global Managing Partner. Jim Goetz led Sequoia's U.S. business from 2012 until 2017, when he was succeeded by Roelof Botha. In 2016, Sequoia hired Jess Lee, making her the first female investing partner in the United States in the firm's history. In 2019, it was the most active VC fund company in India.

In March 2020, Sequoia announced it would hire Luciana Lixandru as its first partner based in Europe. In October 2021, Sequoia announced it would implement a new fund structure for its U.S. and European business that would allow it to remain involved with companies after their public market debuts. In March 2022, The Information reported that Sequoia Capital China was raising an $8 billion fund to invest in Chinese tech companies. Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had backstopped Sequoia's $1 billion in deposits in the bank.

In June 2023, Sequoia announced plans to break up into three entities citing complications running a decentralized global investment business in the middle of geopolitical tensions. Following the separation, expected to complete by March 2024, the Chinese business led by Neil Shen would be called HongShan ("sequoia" in Mandarin) and the Indian and Southeast Asia arm would be named Peak XV Partners led by Shailendra Singh, GV Ravishankar, Mohit Bhatnagar, and Rajan Anandan. The U.S. and Europe unit would retain the Sequoia name. In July 2023, Sequoia announced to cut one-third of its talent staff as part of an organizational restructuring. In October 2023, the U.S. House Committee on U.S.–China Competition announced a probe into Sequoia Capital's investments in China.

As of at least 2024, Sequoia is the largest investor in China's consumer internet sector. It has often used a strategy of investing in several competitors in the same sector and then later pushing for their consolidation. According to Chinese media, Sequoia was one of the major influences in mergers between Meituan and Dianping, between Uber China and Didi, and between VShop and Lefenghui.

In July 2025, Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire stated that Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim American New York City mayoral candidate, "came from a culture that lies about everything" and seeks to advance "his Islamist agenda". That statement was denounced as bigoted and Islamophobic. However, Maguire denied any bigoted instead—he emphasized a distinction between Islamism and Islam. In response, 600 founders of tech startups signed an open letter to Sequoia, asking Sequoia to adopt "a zero-tolerance policy on hate speech and religious bigotry." In August 2025, Sequoia's COO, Sumaiya Balbale, who is open about the influence of her Muslim faith on her career, resigned after five years with the company over Maguire's posts after other senior partners declined to take action against Maguire on the basis of free speech.

In November 2025, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady succeeded Roelof Botha as co-stewards, Sequoia's title for its top leaders under a stewardship model dating to founder Don Valentine. Botha stepped down after partners dissatisfied with his leadership pushed for the change. Lin, Grady, and fellow partner Andrew Reed led the effort with the backing of the wider partnership and former leader Doug Leone, the Financial Times reported.