Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois speaking on a panel in 2007
Keith Rabois in 2007.
Born (1969-03-17) March 17, 1969 (age 54)
Edison, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materStanford University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, Investor, Lawyer
Known forPayPal, LinkedIn, Square, Opendoor, Yelp, Xoom, YouTube, Yammer, Palantir, Lyft, AirBnB, Eventbrite and Quora.
SpouseJacob Helberg

Keith Rabois (born March 17, 1969) is an American technology executive and investor. He is currently a general partner at Founders Fund. He is widely known for his early-stage startup investments and his executive roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide, and Square (now known as Block, Inc.). Rabois invested in Yelp and Xoom prior to each company's initial public offering ("IPO") and sits on both companies' boards of directors.[1][2] He is considered a member of the PayPal Mafia, a group that includes PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk, and PayPal employee and YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim.[3][4][5] Additionally, Rabois has been involved in investments in YouTube, Palantir, Lyft, Airbnb, Eventbrite, Wish,[6] and The Org.[7]

Early life and education

Rabois was born on March 17, 1969, and raised in Edison, New Jersey.[8] Rabois studied political science as an undergraduate at Stanford University, receiving his B.A. in 1991 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1994.[citation needed] While at Stanford, he became acquainted with Peter Thiel, then-editor and co-founder of The Stanford Review. Rabois later contributed to the libertarian newspaper.[9] Rabois was one of several students reprimanded for shouting homophobic slurs outside an instructor's home, including the suggestion that the instructor "die of AIDS." Rabois stated that the incident was designed to challenge Stanford's rules on student speech.[10][11][12] Thiel later defended Rabois in his book, The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and Political Intolerance on Campus.[13]

He clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and worked at Sullivan & Cromwell.[14]

Career

PayPal

Rabois served as Executive Vice President, Business Development, Public Affairs, and Policy at PayPal from November 2000 to November 2002.[15]

LinkedIn

Between January 2005 and May 2007, Rabois worked at LinkedIn as its vice president for Business and Corporate Development.[15] LinkedIn was founded by Reid Hoffman, also a former employee at PayPal and a member of the PayPal Mafia.

Square

After some unsuccessful ventures, in 2010, Rabois joined Square, a company that provides an electronic payment service, as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).[4][15]

Sexual harassment charge

Rabois left Square in January, 2013 due to the threat of a lawsuit over sexual harassment accusations by an employee; Rabois claims that the relationship was consensual. A spokesperson from Square said in a statement that "Keith exercised poor judgment that ultimately undermined his ability to remain an effective leader at Square."[11][16][17][18]

Khosla Ventures

In March 2013, Rabois joined venture capital firm Khosla Ventures. Rabois left in 2019.[19][20] In January 2015, Rabois joined the board of directors of Scribd as an observer after Khosla Ventures led a new investment round in the company.[21]

Rabois returned to Khosla Ventures in January 2024 as one of five managing directors.[22]

Opendoor

In April 2014, Rabois co-founded Opendoor, a home buying and selling marketplace.[23][24][25]

Alliance of American Football

In March 2018, Rabois invested in the Alliance of American Football, along with Peter Thiel and Peter Chernin. He sat on the league's board of directors.[26]

Founders Fund

In 2019 Rabois left Khosla Ventures and joined Founders Fund as a general partner.[27][28][29]

In 2021, while at Founders Fund, Rabois co-founded Miami-based OpenStore, a retail-holding startup that acquire brands in the Shopify ecosystem.[30] It raised $75 million at a $750 million valuation.[31]

Rabois left Founders Fund in January 2024, but continues to represent it on the boards of Ramp, Found, and Trade Republic.[22]

Politics

In April 2013, a lobbying group called FWD.us was launched, with Rabois listed as one of a major contributor on the group's website.[32] In January 2020, Rabois stated that he would rather vote for Donald Trump than Bernie Sanders.[33] In 2019 Rabois also stated that Pete Buttigieg was his top choice for the Democratic ticket.[34][35]

In 2023, Rabois praised the Parental Rights in Education Act law in Florida.[36][37]

Personal life

In November 2015, Rabois purchased a house in Glen Park. He planned a renovation that included a new penthouse level, a basketball court, lockers and a sauna, but received pushback from six of his neighbors.[38][39][40][41]

In 2018, Rabois married Jacob Helberg. The ceremony held in St. Barts was officiated by Sam Altman.[42][43]

In November 2020, it was reported that he moved from California to Miami, Florida.[44]

References

  1. ^ "Xoom:Management:Executive Officers and Directors". 2013-01-11. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  2. ^ "Yelp:Management:Executive Officers and Directors". 2011-11-17. Archived from the original on 2014-09-18. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  3. ^ "Meet the PayPal mafia". Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  4. ^ a b "latimes.com". 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  5. ^ "gigaom.com". Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  6. ^ "Keith Rabois". Founders Fund. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  7. ^ Musgrove, Annie (20 February 2020). "The Org collects $8.5 million from Founders Fund and Sequioa to publish organisation charts of companies". Tech.eu. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Keith Rabois: Did you really grow up in Edison, NJ?". Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  9. ^ "Masters of Their Domain". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  10. ^ "Officials condemn homophobic incident; no prosecution planned". 1992-02-12. Archived from the original on 2016-06-12. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  11. ^ a b "Keith Rabois, COO Of Square, Resigns After Relationship With Employee, Harassment Allegations". HuffPost. 2013-01-26. Archived from the original on 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  12. ^ Packer, George (21 November 2011). "No Death, No Taxes: The libertarian futurism of a Silicon Valley billionaire". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  13. ^ Trotter, J. K. "The Free Speech Peter Thiel Will Defend: "Faggot! Faggot! Hope You Die of AIDS!"". Gawker. Archived from the original on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  14. ^ "Lunch Talk with Keith Rabois on a Career in Law, Startups and Venture Capital". Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  15. ^ a b c "Keith Rabois' LinkedIn page". Archived from the original on 2013-10-27. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  16. ^ "A note from Keith". 2013-01-25. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28.
  17. ^ "Interview: Keith Rabois Talks About Sexual Harassment Claim, Becoming a "Distraction" at Square and What's Next". 2013-01-25. Archived from the original on 2014-07-26. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  18. ^ ""Keith Rabois Is Silicon Valley's Hottest Commodity Right Now", SFGate, February 23, 2013". Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  19. ^ "Former Square COO Keith Rabois Joins Khosla Ventures". Forbes. 2013-02-26. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-09-02.
  20. ^ "Keith Rabois on Khosla Ventures website". Archived from the original on 2013-07-25.
  21. ^ Ha, Anthony (2015-01-02). "Scribd Raises $22M For Its Subscription E-Book Service". TechCrunch.
  22. ^ a b Konrad, Alex (2024-01-09). "Keith Rabois Makes A Surprise Return To Khosla Ventures, Five Years After Joining Founders Fund". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10.
  23. ^ "Khosla Ventures' Keith Rabois finally launches his real estate startup". 2014-04-03. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  24. ^ "Keith Rabois' Homebuying Startup OpenDoor Raises $9.95M From Everyone". TechCrunch. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  25. ^ "Here's investor Keith Rabois' bold new home-selling startup: OpenDoor". VentureBeat. 2014-05-29. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  26. ^ Balakrishnan, Sara Salinas, Anita (20 March 2018). "Peter Thiel's venture firm is backing a new football league to rival the NFL". CNBC. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.((cite news)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Keith Rabois joins Founders Fund amid transition at the firm". TechCrunch. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  28. ^ Primack, Dan (20 February 2019). "Scoop: Keith Rabois leaving Khosla Ventures for Founders Fund". Axios. Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  29. ^ Roof, Katie (2019-02-20). "VC Keith Rabois Bolts From Khosla Ventures to Join Peter Thiel's Founders Fund". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  30. ^ Shah, Saqib. "PayPal Mafia's Keith Rabois has acquired 40 Shopify sellers in the past year through his startup OpenStore. He's not slowing down despite the recent problems in the aggregator space". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  31. ^ Konrad, Alex. "OpenStore Raises $75 Million To Acquire More Shopify Sellers, Reaches $750 Million Valuation In Eight Months". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  32. ^ "Our supporters". FWD.us. Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  33. ^ Bowles, Nellie; Griffith, Erin (2 March 2020). "NY Times:Silicon Valley Leaders' Plea to Democrats: Anyone but Sanders". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  34. ^ Calanacis, Jason (Feb 19, 2019). "E904 Keith Rabois (Khosla/PayPal) advice for anti-VC/anti-hustle climate, Thiel, Trump, Thatcher-PT1". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020.
  35. ^ Calanacis, Jason (Feb 22, 2019). "E905: PT2 Keith Rabois PayPal/FoundersFund: censorship, secondary shares, selling, getting into tech". YouTube. Archived from the original on February 22, 2019.
  36. ^ Keith Rabois [@rabois] (May 10, 2022). "Sounds like a wise policy to me" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. ^ Ben Schreckinger (May 24, 2023). "DeSantis needs a new Republican lane. Elon Musk might be paving it". Politico.
  38. ^ Brinklow, Adam (2017-03-28). "Glen Park residents fume over tech billionaire's plan for three-story addition with basketball court". Curbed SF. Archived from the original on 2020-10-13. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  39. ^ "What Happens When Your Neighbor Is A Venture Capitalist". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  40. ^ "Planning Application Glen Park" (PDF). 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  41. ^ "Tech Entrepreneur's San Francisco Remodel Upsetting Neighbors". 2017-03-29. Archived from the original on 2017-04-02. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  42. ^ Schleifer, Theodore (2019-05-07). "How Pete Buttigieg became the new toast of Silicon Valley's wealthiest donors". Vox. Archived from the original on 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  43. ^ "Instagram post by Jacob Helberg • Jan 12, 2019 at 12:39am UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  44. ^ Robert Hackett (17 November 2020). "Silicon Valley loses another tech icon". Fortune. Retrieved 19 November 2020.

External links

PayPal Mafia
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