Jump to content

Marc Andreessen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marc Andreessen
Andreessen in 2013
Born
Marc Lowell Andreessen

(1971-07-09)July 9, 1971(age 53)
Cedar Falls, Iowa,U.S.
EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign(BS)
Occupations
Known for
Spouse
​
(m.2006)​
Children1[1]
RelativesJohn Arrillaga(father-in-law)
Websitea16z.com/author/marc-andreessen

Marc Lowell Andreessen[pronunciation?](born July 9, 1971) is an American businessman and formersoftware engineer.He is the co-author ofMosaic,the first widely usedweb browserwith a graphical user interface; co-founder ofNetscape;and co-founder and general partner ofSilicon Valleyventure capital firmAndreessen Horowitz.He co-founded and later sold the software companyOpswaretoHewlett-Packard;he also co-foundedNing,a company that provides a platform for social networking websites. He is an inductee in theWorld Wide Web Hall of Fame.Andreessen's net worth is estimated at $1.7 billion.

Early life and education

[edit]

Andreessen was born inCedar Falls, Iowa,and raised inNew Lisbon, Wisconsin.[2]He is the son of Patricia and Lowell Andreessen, who worked for a seed company.[3]In December 1993,[2]he received hisbachelor's degreeincomputer sciencefrom theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign(UIUC).[4]As an undergraduate, he interned twice atIBMinAustin, Texas.[5]He worked in the AIX graphics software development group responsible for the MITX Windowimplementation and ports of the 3D language APIs: SGI's Graphics Language (GL) and PHIGS.[citation needed]He also worked at theNational Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA) at the University of Illinois, where he became familiar withTim Berners-Lee's open standards for theWorld Wide Web.After being shown theViolaWWWgraphic web browser in late 1992, Andreessen and full-time salaried co-workerEric Binaworked on creating a browser with integrated graphics that could be ported to a wide range of computers, including Windows. The result was the Mosaic web browser released in 1993.[6]

In the Web's first generation, Tim Berners-Lee launched the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and HTML standards with prototype Unix-based servers and browsers. A few people noticed that the Web might be better thanGopher.In the second generation, Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina developed NCSA Mosaic at the University of Illinois. Several million then suddenly noticed that the Web might be better than sex.

— Bob Metcalfe,InfoWorld,August 21, 1995, Vol. 17, Issue 34.[7]

Career

[edit]
Andreessen in 2004

Andreessen has worked atNetscape,Opsware,foundedAndreessen Horowitz,and invested in many successful companies including Facebook, Foursquare, GitHub, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.[8]

Netscape

[edit]

After graduating from UIUC in 1993, Andreessen moved toCaliforniato work at Enterprise Integration Technologies. Andreessen then met withJim Clark,the founder ofSilicon Graphics,who had recently exited the firm. Clark believed the Mosaic browser had great commercial possibilities and suggested starting an Internet software company. Soon,Mosaic Communications Corporationwas in business inMountain View, California,with Andreessen as co-founder and vice president of technology. The University of Illinois was unhappy with the company's use of the Mosaic name, so Mosaic Communications changed its name to Netscape Communications, and its flagship Web browser was theNetscape Navigator.[9]

Netscape'sIPOin 1995 put Andreessen in the public eye. He was on the cover ofTime[10][11]and other publications.[12]

Netscape was acquired in 1999 for $4.3 billion byAOL.Andreessen's hiring as itschief technical officerwas contingent on the completion of the acquisition.[13]The same year, he was named to theMIT Technology ReviewTR100as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[14]

Opsware

[edit]

After AOL acquired Netscape in late 1998, Andreessen founded Opsware withBen Horowitz,Tim Howes,and In Sik Rhee.[15]Originally named Loudcloud, the company provided computing, hosting and software services to consumer-facing internet and e-commerce companies. Loudcloud sold its hosting business toEDSand changed its name toOpswarein 2003, with Andreessen serving as chairman. Acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007, it was one of the first companies to offersoftware as a serviceand to attempt cloud hosting.[16]

Andreessen Horowitz

[edit]

Between 2005 and 2009, Andreessen and Horowitz separately invested a total of $80 million in 45 startups, includingTwitterandQik.[17]The two became well known assuper angelinvestors.[17]On July 6, 2009, Andreessen and Horowitz announced their Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[18]

Investments

[edit]

Andreessen Horowitz began with an initial capitalization of $300 million;[19]within three years the firm grew to $2.7 billion under management across three funds.[20]In 2012, Andreessen Horowitz's portfolio holdings includedFacebook,Foursquare,GitHub,Pinterest,Twitter,and Honor, Inc.[21]

On September 1, 2009, an investor group that included Andreessen Horowitz acquired a majority stake inSkypeat a valuation of $2.75 billion,[22]which was considered risky.[23]The deal paid off in May 2011 whenMicrosoftbought Skype for $8.5 billion.[23]In 2010, the firm assisted Silicon Valley attorneyTed Wangin creating the first free standardized seed round financing documents, the Series Seed Documents.[24]

Andreessen joined theeBayboard of directors in 2008 and served on it for six years.[25]In October 2014, he announced his resignation from the board due to the company's decision to break off itsonline paymentsunitPayPal.The decision to cut ties with PayPal was a point of contention between Andreessen and investorCarl Icahn.Icahn advocated for the PayPal split while Andreessen opposed the spin-off, resulting in public disputes. Andreessen was accused by Icahn of putting his own interests in front of what was best for shareholders. Icahn published his argument in an open letter that detailed alleged conflicts of interest in eBay's 2009 sale of Skype to a group of private investors, which included Andreessen's firm.[26]

Industry influence

[edit]

Andreessen advises the leaders of companies in which Andreessen Horowitz invests, includingMark Zuckerbergof Facebook andMark Pincusof Zynga.[27]

Andreessen and Horowitz were ranked No. 6 onVanity Fair's 2011 New Establishment List,[28]no. 1 onCNET's 2011 most influential investors list[29]and Nos. 2 and 21, respectively, on the 2012ForbesMidas Listof Tech's Top Investors.[30]

In April 2012, Andreessen and Andreessen Horowitz General Partners Ben Horowitz,Peter Levine,Jeff Jordan,John O'Farrell,andScott Weisspledged to donate half their lifetime incomes from venture capital to charitable organizations.[31]

In 2012, Andreessen was named in theTime100,an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world assembled byTime.[32]His essay "Software is eating the world" has been influential and widely cited.[33][34][35][36]

In 2013, Andreessen was one of five Internet and Web pioneers awarded the inauguralQueen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.[37]

In April 2020, early in theCOVID-19 pandemic,Andreessen published an opinion article, "It's time to build", describing theUnited States' COVID-19 responseand suggesting technological and cultural solutions to the problem.[38][39]

In October 2023, Andreessen published a Techno-Optimist Manifesto arguing that civilization is built on technology and that "Technology is the glory of human ambition and achievement, the spearhead of progress, and the realization of our potential."[40]He has also described himself as a "TESCREAList".[41]

Ventures

[edit]

Andreessen cofounded and chaired Ning, the third company he established, after Netscape and Loudcloud.[42]In September 2011, it was announced that Ning had been sold toMode Mediafor a reported price of $150 million. Andreessen joined Glam Media's board of directors after the sale.[43]

He is a personal investor in companies includingLinkedIn[33]and boutique bank Raine.[44]

Andreessen serves on the board ofMeta,[45]Hewlett Packard Enterprise,Kno,[46]Stanford Hospital,[47]Bump Technologies,Anki,[48]Oculus VR,[49]OpenGov,[50]Dialpad, andTinyCo.[51]Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced in February 2018 that board member Andreessen would not seek reelection at the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on April 4.[52]In his time at Hewlett Packard, Andreessen had been partially blamed for some of the company's failures, including the recruiting ofLéo Apothekeras well as the acquisitions ofAutonomyandPalm.[53][54]

He is advisor toAsanaand director ofCollabNet.[55]He is a proponent ofBitcoin.[56]Andreessen is on an advisory board forNeom,theSaudi Arabiangovernment's plan to build a futuristicmegacityin the desert.[57][58]

Criticism

[edit]

In February 2016, Andreessen posted a tweet in response to India's decision to applynet neutralityto Facebook's proposed projectFree Basics.The tweet suggested that anti-colonialism had been catastrophic for the Indian people. Andreessen later deleted the tweet following criticism from Indians and non-Indians alike (including Facebook founderMark Zuckerberg).[59][60][61]Facebook spent millions advertising Free Basics to the Indian public.[62]The project failed due to violations, setting preferential tariffs in accessing content and setting up a"walled garden"on the internet.[63][64]

Conflict of interest

[edit]

In April 2016, Facebook shareholders filed a class action lawsuit to block Zuckerberg's plan to create a new class of non-voting shares. The lawsuit alleges Andreessen secretly coached Zuckerberg through a process to win board approval for the stock change, while Andreessen served as an independent board member representing stockholders.[65]

According to court documents, Andreessen shared information with Zuckerberg about their progress and concerns and helped Zuckerberg negotiate against shareholders. Court documents included transcripts of private texts between Zuckerberg and Andreessen.[66]

Personal life

[edit]

Andreessen marriedLaura Arrillagain 2006.[67]She is the founder of the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund and daughter of Silicon Valley real estate billionaireJohn Arrillaga.They have one son together.

In 2009, Andreessen issued a$25,000 rewardfor information leading to a conviction in the 1987 unsolved murder of Barbara Blackstone, a teacher fromNew Lisbon High School in Wisconsin,where he had attended. At this time the case remains unsolved.

In 2021, he and his wife bought a property in Malibu for $177 million from Serge and Florence Azria. This was the highest price paid for a California property at that time.[68]As of February 2023, his net-worth is estimated at $1.7 billion byForbes.[69]

In 2022, Andreessen advocated against the construction of 131 multifamily housing units in their affluentAtherton, Californiatown.[70]In a letter, Andreessen and his wife wrote that they opposed permitting more than one house on a single acre of land.[71]Andreessen's comments sparked criticisms of hypocrisy, as he had previously argued for increased housing supply, in particular in California.[71][70]

Politics

[edit]

In 2012, Andreessen expressed some support for Republican candidateMitt Romney.[72]During the 2016 primary season, he endorsed Republican candidateCarly Fiorina,but after Fiorina dropped out of the race, Andreessen switched his endorsement to the Democratic nomineeHillary Clinton,citing the Republican nomineeDonald Trump's immigration stance.[73][74]

In July 2024, Andreessen announced he will donate to Super PACs that support Donald Trump's presidential campaign.[75]

Accolades

[edit]

Andreessen was one of six inductees in theWorld Wide Web Hall of Fameannounced at theFirst International Conference on the World-Wide Webin 1994.[76][77]In March 2022, he was appointed to theHomeland Security Advisory CouncilbySecretary of Homeland SecurityAlejandro Mayorkas.[78]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Tad Friend (May 18, 2015)."TOMORROW'S ADVANCE MAN – Marc Andreessen's plan to win the future".
  2. ^abSimone Payment,Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark: The Founders of Netscape,The Rosen Publishing Group, 2006, p. 15.ISBN978-1-4042-0719-6.
  3. ^Payment, Simone (August 15, 2006).Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark: The Founders of Netscape.The Rosen Publishing Group.ISBN9781404207196.RetrievedJuly 9,2013– viaGoogle Books.
  4. ^"MARC L. ANDREESSEN".ENGINEERING AT ILLINOIS.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.RetrievedMarch 31,2017.
  5. ^Alexia Tsotsis (January 28, 2013)."Marc Andreessen On The Future Of Enterprise".TechCrunch.
  6. ^Calore, Michael."April 22, 1993: Mosaic Browser Lights Up Web With Color, Creativity".Wired.ISSN1059-1028.RetrievedSeptember 23,2023.
  7. ^Roads and Crossroads of Internet HistoryChapter 4: Birth of the Web
  8. ^AppearancesonC-SPAN
  9. ^"Marc Andreessen".Centre for Computing History.RetrievedFebruary 13,2019.
  10. ^"Netscape's Marc Andreessen".Time.February 19, 1996. Archived fromthe originalon February 17, 2005.
  11. ^"At just 24, he appeared—barefoot and wearing a crown—on the cover of Time."Steve Hamm (April 13, 1998)."The Education of Marc Andreessen".Businessweek.Archived fromthe originalon January 22, 2000.
  12. ^Alan Levenson (photo credit) (April 13, 1998)."04/13/19 Cover Story".Businessweek. Archived fromthe originalon November 4, 1999.RetrievedSeptember 28,2007.
  13. ^"AOL Names Andreessen CTO".WIRED.RetrievedFebruary 27,2018.
  14. ^"1999 Young Innovators Under 35: Marc Andreessen, 28".MIT Technology Review.1999. Archived fromthe originalon February 27, 2021.RetrievedAugust 14,2011.
  15. ^Venkat, Girish."Loudcloud: Early light on cloud computing".Business Tech News.CNET. Archived fromthe originalon March 30, 2013.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  16. ^Martens, China."HP Buying Opsware in $1.6 Billion Deal".PC World. Archived fromthe originalon March 8, 2021.RetrievedOctober 20,2016.
  17. ^abWong Kromhout, Wileen."Ben Horowitz MS '90".Alumni Profiles.UCLA Engineering. Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2012.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  18. ^Maney, Kevin (July 6, 2009)."Marc Andreessen puts his money where his mouth is".Fortune Magazine.CNNMoney.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  19. ^Tam, Pui-Wing (February 1, 2012)."Andreessen's Firm Raises $1.5 Billion".Technology.The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  20. ^Tam, Pui-Wing (April 6, 2011)."Andreessen Horowitz Raises $200 Million Co-Investment Fund".Technology.The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  21. ^"Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners Invest $11.2 Million in Meteor".News Release.MarketWatch. Archived fromthe originalon August 30, 2012.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  22. ^Wauters, Robin (November 19, 2009)."Breaking: eBay Completes Skype Sale At $2.75 Billion Valuation".TechCrunch.RetrievedAugust 2,2012.
  23. ^abOvide, Shira (May 10, 2011)."Microsoft-Skype Deal: Andreessen Horowitz Takes Victory Lap".Deal Journal.The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 2,2012.
  24. ^Kara Swisher."Series Seed Documents–With an Assist From Andreessen Horowitz–To Help Entrepreneurs With Legal Hairballs".allthingsd.com.RetrievedMarch 4,2010.
  25. ^"Marc Andreessen Joins EBay Board".WIRED.RetrievedFebruary 27,2018.
  26. ^Mac, Ryan."Marc Andreessen Resigns From eBay Board Following Icahn Defeat".Forbes.RetrievedFebruary 27,2018.
  27. ^"Disrupting the disrupters".Technology Quarterly: Q3 2011.The Economist. September 3, 2011.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  28. ^"The 2011 New Establishment List: And the Top Spot Goes to..."VF Daily.Vanity Fair. September 2011.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  29. ^"Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz".12 of the most influential tech investors of 2011.CNET. Archived fromthe originalon February 8, 2012.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  30. ^"2012's Top Tech Investors".The Midas List.Forbes.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  31. ^McBride, Sarah (April 25, 2012)."Andreessen Horowitz partners pledge income to charity".Reuters.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  32. ^McCracken, Harry (April 18, 2012)."The 100 Most Influential People in the World".Time.Archived fromthe originalon April 19, 2012.RetrievedAugust 15,2012.
  33. ^abAndreessen, Marc (August 20, 2011)."Why Software is Eating the World".Life & Culture.The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  34. ^Singh, Tarry."Software Ate The World, Now AI Is Eating Software".Forbes.
  35. ^"Software is still eating the world".June 7, 2016.
  36. ^Andreessen, Marc (August 20, 2011)."Why Software Is Eating The World".The Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660.RetrievedJune 19,2021.
  37. ^"2013 Winners Announced"Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
  38. ^"IT'S TIME TO BUILD".Andreessen Horowitz.April 18, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 6,2021.
  39. ^Griffith, Erin; Lorenz, Taylor (May 19, 2020)."The Hot New Thing in Clubby Silicon Valley? An App Called Clubhouse".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 6,2021.
  40. ^Andreessen, Marc (October 16, 2023)."The Techno-Optimist Manifesto".Andreessen Horowitz.RetrievedOctober 16,2023.
  41. ^Zuckerman, Ethan(January 16, 2024)."Two warring visions of AI".Prospect.Archivedfrom the original on July 1, 2024.RetrievedJune 29,2024.
  42. ^Andreessen, Marc."Merging Glam and Ning".Marc Andreessen's Blog.Marc Andreessen.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  43. ^Rosoff, Matt."Glam Media Buys Marc Andreessen's Ning".Articles.Business Insider. Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2012.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  44. ^Yarow, Jay."Eric Schmidt, Sean Parker, Marc Andreessen Invest in Boutique Bank Raine".Investment.Business Insider. Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2012.RetrievedAugust 3,2012.
  45. ^Dan Frommer."Marc Andreessen Joins Facebook Board".Alleyinsider.com.RetrievedOctober 5,2008.
  46. ^"Marc L. Andreessen".Executive Profile.Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived fromthe originalon May 8, 2013.RetrievedAugust 4,2012.
  47. ^"Silicon Valley Couple Pledge $27.5 Million Gift to Stanford Hospital for Cutting-Edge Emergency Care".News Release.Stanford Hospital & Clinics.RetrievedAugust 4,2012.
  48. ^Tsotsis, Alexia (June 10, 2013)."Anki Debuts Serious Robotics AI With Fun Racing Game At WWDC, Raises $50M Led By A16Z".TechCrunch.AOL Tech.RetrievedJune 10,2013.
  49. ^Chris Velazco (December 12, 2013)."Oculus VR Raises $75 Million To Help Bring Virtual Reality Goggles To The Masses".TechCrunch.
  50. ^"OpenGov Picks Up $25 Million More And Adds Marc Andreessen To The Board".TechCrunch.October 15, 2015.RetrievedMay 18,2021.
  51. ^"TinyCo Raises $18 Million From Andreessen Horowitz For Mobile Gaming".TechCrunch. February 25, 2011.
  52. ^"Form 8-K Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company".www.sec.gov.February 1, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 27,2018.
  53. ^Cox, Rob (November 21, 2012)."HP Board Member Marc Andreessen, an Internet Pioneer, Deserves Some of the Blame for the Company's Failures".The Daily Beast.RetrievedFebruary 27,2018.
  54. ^"HP's Board Was Such A Dysfunctional Mess That It Hired Leo Apotheker Without Really Interviewing Him".Business Insider.RetrievedFebruary 27,2018.
  55. ^Constine, Josh (November 2016)."Marc Andreessen joins board of Dialpad, the desk phone killer".TechCrunch.
  56. ^Dylan Love (January 21, 2014)."Marc Andreessen Has A Great Answer For Why Bitcoin Matters".businessinsider.com.
  57. ^"Top tech execs will help Saudi Arabia build its mega city of the future".CNN.October 11, 2018.
  58. ^"Some Silicon Valley Superstars Ditch Saudi Advisory Board After Khashoggi Disappearance, Some Stay Silent".The Intercept.October 12, 2018.
  59. ^"Net Neutrality: Indians fume over offensive tweet by Facebook board member".Deccan Chronicle.February 10, 2016.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  60. ^Ghosha, Abhimanyu (February 10, 2016)."Marc Andreessen just offended 1 billion Indians with a single tweet".The Next Web.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  61. ^Zuckerberg, Mark (February 11, 2016)."Mark Zuckerberg responds to Andreessen's tweet".Facebook.com.Archived fromthe originalon February 26, 2022.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  62. ^Bhatia, Rahul (May 12, 2016)."The inside story of Facebook's biggest setback".The Guardian.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  63. ^Wadhwa, Vivek (February 8, 2016)."Free Basics And Facebook's Waterloo In India".TechCrunch.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  64. ^Gilbert, David (December 23, 2015)."Facebook's Free Basics Service Shut Down In India".International Business Times.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  65. ^Heath, Alex (December 13, 2016)."Here are the chummy behind-the-scenes text messages between Mark Zuckerberg and Marc Andreessen that surfaced in a Facebook lawsuit".Business Insider.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  66. ^Chang, Lulu (December 9, 2016)."Marc Andreessen accused of conflict of interest based on private texts to Zuckerberg".Digital Trends.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  67. ^Quinn, Michelle (August 15, 2007)."Andreessen Casts a Wide Net".Los Angeles Times.
  68. ^Solomont, E.B. (October 29, 2021)."Marc Andreessen Is the Buyer of Serge Azria's Malibu Home".The Wall Street Journal.
  69. ^"Marc Andreessen".Forbes.RetrievedFebruary 9,2023.
  70. ^abDemsas, Jerusalem (August 5, 2022)."The Billionaire's Dilemma".The Atlantic.RetrievedAugust 5,2022.
  71. ^abGriffith, Erin (August 12, 2022)."The Summer of NIMBY in Silicon Valley's Poshest Town".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedSeptember 25,2022.
  72. ^Boorstin, Julia (July 17, 2012)."Marc Andreessen Talks Facebook, Romney and Yahoo".CNBC.
  73. ^Chmielewski, Dawn (June 14, 2016)."Asked why he supports Clinton over Trump, Marc Andreessen responds: 'Is that a serious question?'".Recode.
  74. ^Weinberger, Matt (June 15, 2016)."Marc Andreessen on why he's supporting Clinton over Trump: 'Is that a serious question?'".Business Insider.RetrievedDecember 22,2019.
  75. ^Field, Hayden; Cnbc • • (July 16, 2024)."Andreessen Horowitz founders plan to donate to pro-Trump super PAC".NBC New York.RetrievedSeptember 19,2024.
  76. ^Robert Cailliau(May 1994)."WWW94 Awards".CERN. Archived fromthe originalon March 6, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 25,2011.
  77. ^Friend, Tad(May 18, 2015)."Tomorrow's advance man: Marc Andreessen's plan to win the future".Letter from California.The New Yorker.Vol. 91, no. 13. pp. 58–73.RetrievedAugust 5,2015.
  78. ^"Marc Andreessen".DHS.March 2022.RetrievedJuly 26,2019.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marc_Andreessen&oldid=1248524110"