Timothy C. Draper

Timothy Cook "Tim" Draper (born June 11, 1958) is an American venture capital investor, and 1985 founder of the firm that would become Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). Draper is also the founder of Draper Associates and Draper University. In July 2014, Draper received wide coverage for his purchase at a US Marshals Service auction of seized bitcoins from the Silk Road marketplace website.

Background and early life

Draper is the third in a line of venture capitalists. He is the son of Phyllis (Culbertson) and William Henry Draper III, who founded the Draper & Johnson Investment Company in 1962 and was chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. His grandfather, William Henry Draper, Jr., founded Draper, Gaither and Anderson in 1958.

He has a degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1984.

Financial career

In 1985, Draper left the bank Alex, Brown & Sons to start his own venture capital firm; former officemate Jon Fisher became a partner in 1991, and business student Steve Jurvetson became the third partner in the firm.