Originally named Timothy Coo Draper, he is an American venture capitalist investor and a very successful businessman with multiple investments and stakes in some of the biggest companies in the world.
The name Tim Draper received wide popularity upon his purchase of Bitcoins which were seized from the online black market website, the Silk Road. The purchase took place at an auction conducted by the U.S. Marshal Service and cost him around $19 million.
About Tim Draper
The successful venture capitalist was born in East Chicago, Indiana on June 11, 1958. Draper was born into a family of venture capitalists and government officials. Starting from his grandfather William Henry Draper Jr, the family was associated with the business. He was one of the founders of Draper, Gaither, and Anderson in 1958. He also served as the first ambassador to NATO.
William Henry Draper III, the father of Tim Draper was also a successful venture capitalist. He also founded an investment company named Draper & Johnson. He also served as the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The elder sister of Tim Draper, Polly Draper is a popular American actress, producer, writer, and director.
Tim Draper completed his formal education at the Phillips Academy Andover and upon completing his term there, Draper joined Stanford University. He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University. He then joined Harvard Business School and received an MBA in 1984.
Career And Net Worth
Tim Draper is known to have investments in some of the biggest companies in the world. With multiple successful business ventures, their net worth of Tim is estimated to be $600 million This marks the success that he has in his profession as a venture capitalist investor.
Draper began his career at Alex Brown and Sons, which was the first investment bank in the United States. Draper left his job and started his own venture capital firm in 1985. Later he was joined by more partners and the firm became known as Draper Fisher Jurvetson or simply DFJ.
Throughout his career, Draper made many significant investments. Draper was one of the earliest investors in the company Hotmail, managed by Jack Smith and Sabeen Bhatia. During the course of the investment, the company witnessed rapid growth. Draper also helped to coin the widely used term ‘viral marketing.’
Another notable investment made by DFJ was its investment in Skype, in the year 2004. DFJ owned around 10% of Skype in 2005 until the share was sold to eBay for a deal estimated to be around $4 billion. The company also made a significant investment in the series C venture round of Tesla in 206.
Upon the success that they gained from their initial investment, they invested again in the series D venture round of Tesla in the next year. He also became the first-ever Silicon Valley venture capitalist to invest in China.
Tim Draper made headlines in 2014 when he purchased 30.000 Bitcoins which were seized by the U.S Marshals from the black market website Silk Road. The purchase cost Tim around $19 million and the coins that he purchased that day are estimated to be valued at $2 billion now.
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Draper also made an investment in the streaming platform Twitch. The platform was then sold to Amazon for $1 billion. The founder of the company Twitch convinced Draper to invest in his self-driving car Cruise Automation.
Even though Draper had a near-death experience during the test drive of the car, he was impressed by it and made an investment in Cruise. The company was eventually sold to General Motors for $1 billion.
Theranos, the company started by Elizabeth Homles, saw Draper as one of its first investors. He also publicly defended Holmes during the times of allegations against her. He also has significant investments in other companies like Twitter, Tezos, Coinbase, and Robinhood.
Tim Draper’s Relationships And Personal Life
Tim Draper got married to Melissa Lee Parker in 1982. The ceremony was held at the First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame in California. The couple had been together ever since and they have four children from their marriage.
The couple named their children – Jesse, Adam, Bill, and Elanor – have also chosen to follow the family tradition of a career in venture capitalism and the others have chosen the path of acting as their career.
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