Mary Meeker

For the American educational psychologist, see Mary N. Meeker.
Mary G. Meeker
Meeker at the Web 2.0 Conference in 2005
BornSeptember 1959 (age 65)
Portland, Indiana, U.S.
EducationDePauw University (BA)
Cornell University (MBA)
OccupationVenture capitalist
Known forInternet Trends Report

Mary Meeker (born September 1959)[1] is an American venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst. Her primary work is on Internet and new technologies. She is the founder and general partner at BOND, a San Francisco–based venture capital firm.[2] She previously served as partner at Kleiner Perkins.[3][4]

Meeker has been called the "Queen of the Internet".[5] In 2021, she was listed at No. 84 on the most powerful woman in the world. A "perennial leading VC on the Midas List," she appeared at No. 21 in 2021. In 2022, she was No. 2 on the female investors list.[6][7]

In 2023, Meeker ranked 85th in Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women".[8]

Early life and education

Born in Portland, Indiana, to parents Gordon and Mary, Meeker also has a brother, Dick, who is 21 years her elder.[9] Her father Gordon was a "golf nut", which led to Meeker becoming captain of the golf team at Jay County High School; she credits her "intense and competitive" father for her type-A personality.[9]

Meeker received a B.A. in psychology from DePauw University in 1981 and an MBA in finance from Cornell University in 1986.[10] In May 2000, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from DePauw.[11]

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.[12] She worked for Cowen from 1990 to 1991 before moving to Morgan Stanley to specialize in covering the personal computer and consumer software industries.[13]

Morgan Stanley

In August 1995, Morgan Stanley served as lead manager for Netscape's IPO. In February 1996, Meeker and Chris DePuy at Morgan Stanley published "The Internet Report", a landmark industry report which became known as "the bible" for investors in the dot com boom.[14] It was shared widely on the web and was also published as a book. 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 dotcom bubble burst in 2000 to 2002.[15] 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 Google's IPO.[16] 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."[17] 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.[18] 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 J. 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.[19]

Kleiner Perkins

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 venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins, where she has participated in over 20 different deals. Meeker serves on the boards of electronic signature provider DocuSign,[20] mobile payments company Square, Inc.,[21] and Peer-to-peer lending company Lending Club.[22]

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.[23]

BOND

In September 2018, Meeker left Kleiner to start her own venture capital firm, Bond Capital (stylized BOND), which is headquartered in San Francisco.[5] She raised $1.2 billion for her debut fund.[24] In May 2019, BOND announced its first investment out of the fund, a $70 million round in online portfolio platform Canva.[25] In March 2021, BOND closed its second fund with $2 billion in capital commitments.[26]

Meeker's Internet Trends Report was one of the most highly anticipated annual reports for tech investors.[27] She published it every year since 1995 when she was a tech analyst at Morgan Stanley up until 2019.[28]

The Report included data and analysis on the major trends shaping the Internet, consumer behavior and cultural shifts.[29][30] The report was last published in 2019 at Vox/Recode's Code Conference.[31]

References

  1. ^ "Resume: Mary G. Meeker". Bloomberg Businessweek. April 29, 2001. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  2. ^ McBride, Sarah (24 April 2019). "Mary Meeker Starts $1.25 Billion VC Fund After Leaving Kleiner Perkins". Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Mary Meeker Profile". Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  5. ^ a b Griffith, Erin (2018-09-14). "Mary Meeker, 'Queen of the Internet,' Is Leaving Kleiner Perkins to Start a New Fund". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  6. ^ "Forbes Profile: Mary Meeker". Forbes. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  7. ^ Capital, TrueBridge. "The Midas List 2022: Return Of The Top Female Investors". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  8. ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
  9. ^ a b "Online Extra: Resume: Mary G. Meeker". Bloomberg Businessweek. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Internet Analyst Mary Meeker '81 to Address Web 2.0 Conference". DePauw University. 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  11. ^ "Honorary Degrees". DePauw University. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  12. ^ Craig, Susanne (2010-11-29). "Mary Meeker leaving Morgan Stanley". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  13. ^ Gustin, Sam (2012-07-19). "The Ten Most Influential Women in Technology". Time. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  14. ^ Green, Heather (September 27, 1999). "Mary G. Meeker". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Newsweek Interview". Newsweek. 2004-08-22. Archived from the original on 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  17. ^ Serwer, Andy (2006-05-15). "Mary Meeker 2.0". Fortune. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  18. ^ Smith, Randall; Davis, Ann (2005-05-09). "At Morgan Stanley, Some Worry Clash Endangers Culture". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  19. ^ "The smartest people in tech". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2013-07-26. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  20. ^ Helft, Miguel (13 July 2012). "DocuSign raises $47.5 million, adds Mary Meeker to board". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  21. ^ "Square Board of Directors". Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  22. ^ McBride, Sarah (6 June 2012). "Mary Meeker Breaks Her Investment Fast". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  23. ^ Kulwin, Noah (2015-03-23). "A who's who of the Kleiner Perkins-Ellen Pao trial". Recode. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  24. ^ "Mary Meeker raises $1.25B for Bond, her debut growth fund". TechCrunch. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  25. ^ "Mary Meeker Makes First Investment Out of Bond Capital". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  26. ^ Loizos, Connie (3 March 2021). "Mary Meeker's Bond has closed its second fund with $2 billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  27. ^ Rooney, Kate (2019-06-11). "Mary Meeker just published her highly anticipated internet trends report — read it here". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  28. ^ Murphy, Mike (11 June 2019). "Mary Meeker's 2019 Internet Trends report: All the slides and highlights". Quartz. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  29. ^ D'Onfro, Jillian. "More Than 25% Of U.S. Adults Almost Always Online: Mary Meeker's 2019 Internet Trends Report". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  30. ^ Levy, Steven (2012-09-21). "The Indomitable Mary Meeker". Wired. Vol. 20, no. 10. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  31. ^ "Here's Mary Meeker's 2019 Internet Trends report". TechCrunch. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
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