Arthur Rock

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Arthur Rock
Arthur Rock.jpg
Arthur Rock,January 2003
Born (1926-08-19) August 19, 1926 (age 97)
Rochester, New York
Alma mater Syracuse University (B.A., 1948)
Harvard Business School (MBA, 1951)
Occupation Venture Capitalist
Known for early investor in Intel, Apple Computer
Spouse(s) Toni Rembe

Arthur Rock (born August 19, 1926) is an American businessman and investor. Based out of Silicon Valley, California, he was an early investor in major firms including Intel, Apple Computer, Scientific Data Systems and Teledyne.

Early life

Rock was born and raised in Rochester, New York, in a Jewish family.[1][2][3] He was an only child and his father owned a small candy store where Rock worked as a youth.[3] He joined the U.S. Army during World War II but the war ended before he was deployed.[3] He then went to college on the G.I. Bill.[3] He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in business administration from Syracuse University in 1948 and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1951.[4]

Career

Rock started his career in 1951 as a securities analyst in New York City, and then joined the corporate finance department of Hayden, Stone & Company in New York, where he focused on raising money for small high-technology companies.[5] In 1957, when the "traitorous eight" left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, Rock was the one who helped them find a place to go: he convinced Sherman Fairchild to start Fairchild Semiconductor.[6]

In 1961, he moved to California. Along with Thomas J. Davis, Jr., he formed the San Francisco venture capital firm Davis & Rock.[7]

Awards

  • 1987 EY Entrepreneur of The Year Award Recipient, Northern California Region.

Personal life

In 2003, Rock donated $25 million to the Harvard Business School to establish the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.[5]

He is married to lawyer Toni Rembe.[8]

Rock was portrayed by Oscar-winning actor J. K. Simmons in the 2013 biographical drama Jobs (film).

See also

References

  1. Jewish Telegraph Agency: "Among America’s Mega- Donors, Many Jews, but Few Gifts to Jews" February 24, 2004
  2. Video on YouTube
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harvard Business School: "ARTHUR ROCK" retrieved October 8, 2015
  4. Interview with Rob Walker on November 12, 2002 as part of The Silicon Genesis Project with Stanford University
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