Sequoia Capital Senior Steward Roelof Botha Resigns

Staff Reporter | PNN

Roelof Botha, a top executive at venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, announced his resignation as Senior Steward after more than three years in leadership. Botha will be succeeded by partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady as co-stewards.

Alfred Lin joined Sequoia in 2010 and has led major investments in companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, and Kaltchi. Pat Grady has been a partner for 19 years and led growth-stage investments since 2015, including ServiceNow, OpenAI, and legal AI platform Harvey.

During Botha’s tenure leading Sequoia’s US and European operations since 2017, over $50 billion was deployed among limited partners. He assumed top leadership in mid-2022 during a market downturn, and Sequoia’s portfolio suffered losses, including $200 million in the FTX crypto exchange.

Under his leadership, Sequoia separated operations in India and China into independent entities and navigated political and regulatory challenges. Botha emphasized that senior stewardship is about coordinating leadership, not power.

Following his resignation, Lin, Grady, Luciana Lixandre (Europe Investment Lead), and Andrew Reid (Figma and Klarna Investment Experience) will lead Sequoia collectively. Sequoia recently announced a $750 million Series A fund and a $200 million seed fund. With new leadership, the firm is poised for fresh investments and growth.