Who Is Chamath Palihapitiya?

Chamath Palihapitiya is a highly-successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist in the San Francisco Bay area. Palihapitiya founded (and is the CEO of ) Social Capital in 2011 to invest in companies in fields being ignored by other venture capitalists, like health, financial services, and education.

The firm expanded to invest in tech companies like Amazon, Tesla, and Slack but has since moved on to investing in "energy transition and climate science, life sciences, and deep tech."

Notable Accomplishments

In 2018, Social Capital became a permanent capital model and launched two SPAC platforms: Social Capital Hedosophia and Social Capital Suvretta. These platforms were created to provide funding for the less popular and profitable (at the time) deep tech, life sciences, and climate science startup companies.

In 2019, he sponsored a SPAC that merged with Virgin Galactic, later selling a large part of his stake for $200 million in March 2021 to invest in climate-friendly ventures.

He continues to create Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies for startups with big ideas and is known for his media appearances, and active X (formerly Twitter) account with 1.6 million followers as of Aug. 17, 2023.

He also invested in two companies going public via blank-check vehicles in January 2020: innovative lock maker Latch and solar lender Sunlight Financial. Palihapitiya raised a total of six special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) before the end of 2020.

In 2021, his company found five more investments that met his criteria: Palmetto, a rooftop solar energy company with scalability ideas, and Mitra Chem, a battery technology company that uses machine learning to develop energy storage solutions; Perimeter, a cancer imaging device designer; Syndica, a blockchain technology company.

In 2022, he added Swarm, the company behind Space X's Starlink global internet initiative; Saildrone, a company that develops unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) designed to sail the oceans, monitoring changes and mapping the ocean floor; and Early Is Good (EIG), a medtech designer that hopes to create nanotech solutions for earlier diagnosis of conditions like bladder cancer or renal system diseases.

Early Career and Education

Palihapitiya first entered the venture capital world in 2006 as a principal at Mayfield Fund. Before that, he worked at AOL and was head of the instant messaging division.

Before founding Social Capital, Palihapitiya served as vice president of operations in several capacities, including as a lead developer for Facebook (now Meta). He is credited with helping orchestrate the social media platform's massive growth.

However, according to interviews with media members, he is reportedly not a fan of the social media behemoth. In 2021, he was interviewed on CNBC, stating his belief that Meta failed to regulate its product.

Personal Life

Palihapitiya was born in Sri Lanka in 1976 and moved to Ottawa, Canada, as a child at age five. His father worked as an official with the Sri Lankan High Commission, and when his post ended, he applied for refugee status. His family remained in the country, where Palihapitiya attended school and later college in Waterloo, Canada. He is a naturalized American citizen.

He resides in Northern California and is a basketball fan.

The Bottom Line

Chamath Palihapitiya has made a name for himself, funding startups that were being overlooked by venture capitalists who searched for large and quick returns. In doing so, he became somewhat of a legend in the VC industry while becoming a popular philanthropist at the same time.