Sequoia US changes leadership. Lin Junrui, a veteran from Midas, joins hands with Grady to steer the future.

Image source: MEDIANEWS GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Roelof Botha is about to step down from his position as the "Global Senior Executive Partner" of Sequoia.

After the current Global Senior Executive Partner, Roelof Botha, announced his transition to a less prominent role, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, two "Midas Touch" investors, will take over Sequoia, the oldest and most prestigious venture capital fund in Silicon Valley.

Botha stated in a statement that he will assume a new position, "providing advice to partners" and will continue to serve on the boards of invested companies on behalf of the fund. His position will be succeeded by Alfred Lin and Pat Grady. Lin has co - led Sequoia's early - stage investments since 2017, while Grady has co - led its growth - stage investments since 2015.

01

This leadership change marks the end of a turbulent period for this top - tier Silicon Valley venture capital fund.

The fund currently manages assets worth over $56 billion. In 2021, to continue holding shares in invested companies after their listings, Sequoia introduced a "permanent" capital structure. However, this move coincided with a significant correction in the valuations of technology companies from their pandemic highs. Subsequently, Botha had to deal with the collapse of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that was a key investment of Sequoia at the time. The institution was once valued at $32 billion but ultimately crashed in November 2022. In 2023, Sequoia's U.S. division officially separated from its independently operated businesses in China and India.

In addition, a series of boardroom conflicts at Sequoia have been exposed to the public. The board of Klarna, a Swedish "buy now, pay later" startup, has become a battleground between Botha and Michael Moritz, the former head of Sequoia. It is reported that Matthew Miller, a Sequoia partner, tried to push for Moritz's removal as the chairman of Klarna's board. He then resigned from the company's board and left Sequoia to start his own fund. Klarna went public in September this year, with a valuation of $17 billion.

02

The turmoil continues.

Sumaiya Balbale, the Chief Operating Officer of Sequoia, resigned in August, allegedly related to the social media remarks of Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire. Maguire accused New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani of being an "Islamist." These remarks sparked protests from hundreds of startup founders, who jointly issued an open letter demanding disciplinary action against Maguire. Maguire had also made incendiary remarks about the conflict between Israel and Hamas before (while his supporters signed another open letter in support of him).

In 2021, Botha took over the position of Global Senior Executive Partner, the highest - ranking partner position at Sequoia, from Doug Leone. This South African - born investor joined Sequoia in 2003 and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of Paypal. During his tenure at Sequoia, Botha invested in startups such as YouTube, Instagram, and Square, and became the sole head of the European and American business in 2017. Botha's achievements also include being included in the Forbes list of the world's best venture capitalists almost every year since 2007.

03

His successors, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, also have impressive investment resumes.

Alfred Lin joined Sequoia in 2010 and currently ranks at the top of the Forbes list of the world's best venture capitalists. His most well - known investment achievements include backing startups such as Airbnb, DoorDash, and now OpenAI. Pat Grady joined Sequoia in 2007 and is a veteran of the company. He has invested in companies such as ServiceNow, Okta, and Zoom. In recent years, Grady has also invested in a series of rapidly growing artificial intelligence startups, such as Harvey, Hugging Face, and OpenEvidence.

Sequoia is one of the few venture capital funds that can maintain stability during management transitions without partners leaving to start their own funds. Botha is the third - generation leader of Sequoia. Before him, Doug Leone and Michael Moritz took over the management from the company's founder and early Apple investor, Don Valentine, in 1997, becoming the second - generation leaders. Botha said in a statement: "We maintain inter - generational cohesion and continue the tradition of former Global Executive Partners, providing advice to the partner team and serving on the boards of invested companies on behalf of Sequoia."

When Leone stepped down, he carefully planned a two - year transition period and finally handed over the reins in 2022, coinciding with his 65th birthday. Botha told Forbes at the time that his tenure had no fixed term. However, at the age of 52, he has chosen to relinquish leadership earlier, decades earlier than his predecessors.

Speaking of his successors, Botha said: "They don't shy away from difficult conversations and are willing to be actively involved in building businesses, whether it's working with founders or driving initiatives within Sequoia." Botha himself is also known for his willingness to directly address thorny issues.

On October 28th local time, when speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Botha affirmed the work of former Chief Operating Officer Balbale and responded to the outside world's concerns about Maguire's tweets. He said: "Within the company, we encourage diverse viewpoints, and Sequoia needs people with edge and ideas. Such personalities are attractive to certain entrepreneurs, but of course, there are costs, which require trade - offs."

This article is translated from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2025/11/04/midas - stalwarts - alfred - lin - and - pat - grady - to - helm - sequoia - after - roelof - botha - steps - down/

Original title: "Midas Stalwarts Alfred Lin and Pat Grady to Take Over Sequoia After Roelof Botha Steps Down"

This article is from the WeChat official account "Forbes" (ID: forbes_china). Author: Iain Martin; Translation: Björn & Rach; Proofreading: Lemin. Republished by 36Kr with permission.