Legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist Thomas J Perkins dies at 84

Thomas J Perkins died at 84, in Marin County, California, according to a report in the New York Times. Thomas J Perkins along with his venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was one of the principle people responsible for converting the southern part of San Francisco into Silicon Valley. There were semiconductor companies such as Intel in the area, attracting computer makers who used these components, developers and the service industry. However, the entry of venture capitalist firms in the area, starting with Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers changed the fortune of silicon valley, and created one of the best environments in the world for incipient technology companies.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has an impressive and exhaustive portfolio of investments. This is going to be a little intense, so you might want to sit down and take a deep breath before proceeding. KPCB’s portfolio of investments include Google, Amazon, Twitter, Nest, airbnb, Flipboard, Soundcloud, Spotify, Uber, Snapchat, Slack, Indiegogo, Truecaller, Zynga and Electronic Arts.

Thomas J Perkins wanted to become a TV repair man in his childhood, graduated from MIT, and went on to work in Hewlett Packard, before starting the venture capitalist firm. He was on the board of directors for a number of companies, including Compaq, Corning, Philips, Symantec and LSI. He was known for his over the top lifestyle, with a collection of vintage cars and he commissioned one of the world’s biggest sailing yachts, The Maltese Falcon. Perkins has written books, including a memoir called Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins and a romance novel dedicted to his then wife Danielle Steel called Sex and the Single Zillionaire.