1. Chamath Palihapitiya was born on 3 September 1976 and is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian-American venture capitalist and entrepreneur.
25 Facts About Chamath Palihapitiya
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Chamath Palihapitiya is the founder and chief executive officer of Social Capital, and previously served as an early senior executive at Facebook from 2007 to 2011.
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At age 14, Chamath Palihapitiya began working at Burger King to support his family.
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Chamath Palihapitiya attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute and later graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1999 with a degree in electrical engineering.
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Chamath Palihapitiya briefly worked at Mayfield Fund before joining Facebook in 2007.
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At Facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya led the release of Facebook Beacon, an advertising system which failed and became the subject of lawsuits.
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Chamath Palihapitiya next focused on new user growth; after four years, Facebook had 1 billion users.
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Steven Levy wrote in Facebook: The Inside Story that Chamath Palihapitiya was regarded as a "bully" at Facebook, and that his subordinates often cried as a result of his bullying.
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Chamath Palihapitiya has become a prominent figure in the special purpose acquisition company movement.
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In 2011, Chamath Palihapitiya donated $7,500 to US Senate candidate Ted Cruz.
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In March 2020, Chamath Palihapitiya told The New York Times that he would like to see Michael Bloomberg at the top of the Democratic ticket in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, paired with Amy Klobuchar or Elizabeth Warren.
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Chamath Palihapitiya was a co-host, along with Jacqueline Sacks, David Sacks's wife, of the fundraising event, which raised $12 million and was held on 6 June 2024 at Sacks's Pacific Heights home.
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Chamath Palihapitiya was listed as one of the "Founders" of the lobbying group FWD.
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An article in The New Republic stated that Chamath Palihapitiya received a weekly report about FWD.
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In 2017, Chamath Palihapitiya sparked discussion about social media's societal impact, drawing from his experience at Facebook.
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Chamath Palihapitiya argued that while social platforms could be "a force for good," their design created "dopamine-driven feedback loops" that could harm social discourse and behavior.
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On 25 January 2021, Chamath Palihapitiya announced he would challenge incumbent California Governor Gavin Newsom in the event Newsom was recalled.
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Chamath Palihapitiya shared a campaign website that was created by a supporter.
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In February 2021 Chamath Palihapitiya declared he would not run for governor.
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In January 2022, Chamath Palihapitiya said on the All-In podcast to co-host Jason Calacanis that the alleged persecution of Uyghurs in China does not concern him:.
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Chamath Palihapitiya said he and most Americans care more about domestic economic issues than the human rights abuses of China's Uyghur minority.
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Chamath Palihapitiya has donated consistently to his alma mater, the University of Waterloo, including a $25 million donation to the engineering department in 2018.
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Chamath Palihapitiya later married Nathalie Dompe, an Italian business executive, in 2023.
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An accomplished poker player, Chamath Palihapitiya has competed in both World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events, with total winnings of $175,801.
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Chamath Palihapitiya purchased a $75 million Bombardier Global 7500 in 2020.