The annual Midas List from Forbes ranks the top 100 venture capitalists (VC) in the world every year. Many people on the list struck gold early on in major start-ups like Twitter, Spotify and Uber, while others took the unconventional route and entered the game late. Some bold moves paid off big for these top venture capitalists, highlighted by a once in a lifetime investment that brought the #1 VC to the top of the list.
5. Josh Kopelman
Firm: First Round Capital
The Investment That Got Him Here: LinkedIn
Part of a rockstar group of seed-stage investors that became known as the “super angels“, Kopelman has had a long list of successful endeavors. He hit it big with an early investment in LinkedIn before it went public in 2011 along with founding three different companies.
4. Mary Meeker
Firm: Kleiner Perkins & Byers
The Investment That Got Her Here: Facebook
Meeker recently became the highest ranking woman to ever land on the distinguished Midas List. She is a different type of investor than most others on the list, finding success late in the investment period, but striking at just the right time. Facebook, Airbnb and Spotify are among her notable choices to propel her to the top of the venture capital world.
3. Chris Sacca
Firm: Lowercase Capital
The Investment That Got Him Here: Twitter
Sacca may not have been the first to invest in anything, but he certainly made equally as bold moves as other top VC’s on the list that paid big dividends for him. He is best known for turning a $25,000 angel investment into a group of investors who bet $1 billion to bring back $4 billion when Twitter went public. Along with his early bid in Uber, Sacca has an impressive resume.
2. Steve Anderson
Firm: Baseline Ventures
The Investment That Got Him Here: Instagram
The lone ranger at Baseline Ventures has made quite a name for himself by betting early and almost never missing. He was the first investor in a revolutionary idea named Burbn, or maybe you’d know it better as Instagram. That’s right, Anderson invested in Instagram before it even had its proper name. He also went in on major successes like Heroku, Social Finance and Stitch Fix among others.
1. Jim Goetz
Firm: Sequoia Capital
The Investment That Got Him Here: WhatsApp
The partner at Sequoia Capital turned $60 million into $3 billion with the chance of a lifetime when he took a much maligned shot on WhatsApp. Although it took months to even get WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton to listen to him, Goetz became the first investor and never looked back. Now he is one of the richest and most sought after venture capitalists in the world.
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