Venture capitalist Tim Draper has founded many companies throughout his career. However, he is most known for his work with Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). Through it, he has made many successful investments in major tech companies. Moreover, he is a renowned supporter of cryptocurrencies. According to Forbes, Tim Draper has a net worth $1.2 billion.
Early Life
Timothy Cook Draper was born on June 11, 1958, in East Chicago, Indiana. He comes from a long line of businessmen and government officials. His father, William Henry Draper III, established the Draper & Johnson Investment Company.
His grandfather, Willian Henry Draper II, was selected as the first ambassador to NATO. At first, Tim chose a different career path from his family and studied Electrical Engineering at Phillips Academy Andover.
He later transferred to Stanford University, where he co-created the famous campus board game Stanford – The Game. He graduated in 1980 and got an MBA in 1984 from Harvard Business School.
Business Pursuits
In the beginning, Draper worked at the Alex. Brown & Sons, an investment banking firm. He left in 1985 to start his own business. He partnered with fellow venture capitalists John Fisher and Steve Jurvetson to start Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Along with DFJ, the Indiana native created an early-stage venture capital company called Draper Associates. 1990 saw the formation of the Draper Venture Network, which brought together experienced entrepreneurs from across the globe.
In 2012, Timothy opened the for-profit institution Draper University of Heroes. He got to work with Arizona State University (ASU) the following year. The last company he founded was Draper Goren Holm, a blockchain venture fund created in 2018.
Investment Career
With DFJ, Tim Draper invested in companies that introduced disruptive technologies. His first major investment was in Hotmail, one of the first webmail services which was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for $400 million.
He continued to fund firms that eventually became industry leaders. This includes Skype, Twitter, Baidu, Tesla, SpaceX, Ring, Focus Media, Coinbase, and Twitch. He was also an early investor in Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes’ company was touted as a breakthrough health technology that went bust in 2018.
As for his crypto endeavors, Draper made headlines after buying 30,000 Bitcoin that were seized from the Silk Road in an auction by the US Marshals service. He paid $19 million, and has made a huge return on his initial investment.
Net Worth and Earnings
Through venture capital investing, Tim Draper has become a billionaire by taking calculated risks in early stage companies. He made a massive fortune from Skype investment alone. DFJ owned 10% of the firm when it was acquired by eBay for $4.1 billion in 2005.
If he still holds all of the 30,000 Bitcoin, they would be worth over $600,000,000 today. Despite the recent sell off, Draper predicts Bitcoin will reach a pierce of $250,000 by 2023. His crypto portfolio also includes other riskier crypto such as VeChain and Tezos. Currently, his net worth is valued at $1.2 billion.
Personal Life
Draper is married to Melissa Lee Parker. The couple has two daughters named Jesse and Eleanor, as well as two sons named Adam and Billy. Their family resides in Atherton, California.
