Roelof Botha
Encyclopedia
Roelof F. Botha is a venture capitalist and company director. By training, he is a qualified actuary
.
Botha is a partner at Sequoia Capital
and sits on the board of Eventbrite, Jawbone
, Mahalo
, Meebo
, Nimbula, Square
, Tokbox
, Tumblr
, Unity and Xoom
. He also sat on the board of directors
of YouTube
before its acquisition by Google
.
On Forbes
' Midas List, an annual ranking of venture capital professionals, he ranked 22nd in 2008 and 26th in the 2009.
, South Africa
, and at the age of six he moved to Cape Town
with his parents. He was raised in Hout Bay
, a suburb of Cape Town
, and attended Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck
. Botha earned a BSc
in Actuarial Science
, Economics
, and Statistics
from the University of Cape Town
, graduating in 1996 with the highest GPA in the history of the program. A year and a half later he became the youngest actuary (Institute of Actuaries
and Faculty of Actuaries
) in South African history. Botha worked as a business analyst at McKinsey & Co., Johannesburg, from August 1996 through June 1998. He then moved to the United States, where he attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business from 1998 through 2000 and received an MBA. In 2000, prior to his graduation from Stanford, Botha became director of corporate development for PayPal
. He moved on to vice president of finance and was named CFO
in September 2001. Botha was 28 when PayPal went public in February 2002. The company was purchased by eBay
in October 2002. Botha left to join Sequoia Capital
in January 2003.
, a former South Africa
n politician who served as the country's foreign minister
in the last years of the apartheid era
. His uncle is the rock musician Piet Botha
.
Actuary
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....
.
Botha is a partner at Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...
and sits on the board of Eventbrite, Jawbone
Jawbone (headset)
The Jawbone is a line of Bluetooth mobile phone headsets produced by Aliph, a privately held San Francisco-based consumer technology company founded by Alex Asseily and Hosain Rahman. Since the introduction of the line in December 2006, it has been widely regarded as one of the best Bluetooth...
, Mahalo
Mahalo.com
Mahalo.com is a web directory and Internet-based knowledge exchange launched in alpha test in May 2007 by Jason Calacanis...
, Meebo
Meebo
Meebo is a social platform connecting users with their friends across the web. It began in 2005 as a browser based instant messaging program which supported multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat, Google Talk, CafeMom and...
, Nimbula, Square
Square (payment service)
Square is an electronic payment service, and the name of the card-reading device it uses. Square allows users in the United States to accept credit cards through their mobile phones, either by swiping the card on the Square device or by manually entering the details on the phone.-Creation:The...
, Tokbox
Tokbox
TokBox provides a free API that allows anyone to add group video chat features to their own websites. Experienced programmers use the OpenTok API to build custom interactive video chat applications...
, Tumblr
Tumblr
Tumblr is a website and microblogging platform that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Users can follow other users, or choose to make their tumblelog private. The service emphasizes ease of use. The site ranks as the 10th...
, Unity and Xoom
Xoom Corporation
Xoom Corporation is a San Francisco-based online money transfer company that provides consumer remittance services to the Philippines, India, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Canada, and South Africa...
. He also sat on the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
before its acquisition by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
.
On Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
' Midas List, an annual ranking of venture capital professionals, he ranked 22nd in 2008 and 26th in the 2009.
Education and career
Botha was born in PretoriaPretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and at the age of six he moved to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
with his parents. He was raised in Hout Bay
Hout Bay
Hout Bay is the name of a coastal suburb of Cape Town, South Africa with a mix of neighbourhoods from the very rich to the very poor. It lies in a valley on the Atlantic Seaboard of the Cape Peninsula and is twenty kilometres south of the Central Business District of Cape Town...
, a suburb of Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, and attended Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck
Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck
Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck is an Afrikaans high school in Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded in 1926 by J.J. Jordaan. The school is situated at the foot of Table Mountain right next to the historical Welgemeend in Cape Town...
. Botha earned a BSc
BSC
BSC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:Science and technology* Bachelor of Science , an undergraduate degree* Base Station Controller, part of a mobile phone network; see: Base Station subsystem...
in Actuarial Science
Actuarial science
Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and finance industries. Actuaries are professionals who are qualified in this field through education and experience...
, Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, and Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
from the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
, graduating in 1996 with the highest GPA in the history of the program. A year and a half later he became the youngest actuary (Institute of Actuaries
Institute of Actuaries
The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom . The Institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland...
and Faculty of Actuaries
Faculty of Actuaries
The Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland was the professional body representing actuaries in Scotland. The Faculty of Actuaries was one of two actuarial bodies in the UK, the other was the Institute of Actuaries, which was a separate body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
) in South African history. Botha worked as a business analyst at McKinsey & Co., Johannesburg, from August 1996 through June 1998. He then moved to the United States, where he attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business from 1998 through 2000 and received an MBA. In 2000, prior to his graduation from Stanford, Botha became director of corporate development for PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
. He moved on to vice president of finance and was named CFO
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
in September 2001. Botha was 28 when PayPal went public in February 2002. The company was purchased by eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
in October 2002. Botha left to join Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...
in January 2003.
Family
Botha's father, also named Roelof, is an economist. His grandfather is Roelof Frederik "Pik" BothaPik Botha
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha is a former South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era...
, a former South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n politician who served as the country's foreign minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
in the last years of the apartheid era
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
. His uncle is the rock musician Piet Botha
Piet Botha
Piet Botha is a South African musician who is the frontman of the South African rock band Jack Hammer , which has been an opening act for bands such as ZZ Top and he also performs solo....
.