Arthur Rock | |
|---|---|
 Arthur Rock in January 2003 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 19, 1926 Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse | Toni Rembe |
| Occupation | Venture capitalist |
| Alma mater |
Syracuse University (BA, 1948) Harvard University (MBA, 1951) |
Arthur Rock (born August 19, 1926) is an American businessman and investor. Based in Silicon Valley, California, he was an early investor in major firms including Intel, Apple, Scientific Data Systems and Teledyne.[1]
Early life[]
Rock was born and raised in Rochester, New York, in a Jewish family.[2][3][4] He was an only child and his father owned a small candy store where Rock worked as a youth.[4] He joined the U.S. Army during World War II but the war ended before he was deployed.[4] He then went to college on the G.I. Bill.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
In 1961, he moved to California. Along with Thomas J. Davis Jr., he formed the San Francisco venture capital firm Davis & Rock.[8]
Rock was a member of Apple Inc.'s board when Steve Jobs was ousted in the mid 1980s.[9]
In 2003, Rock donated $25 million to the Harvard Business School to establish the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.[6]
Politics[]
Rock has donated to many political causes, especially in the area of education. He has donated to more than 30 school board elections across the country. Recently, in 2021, he donated over $500,000 to the 2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall elections.[10]
Awards[]
- 1987 EY Entrepreneur of The Year Award Recipient, Northern California Region
- 1989 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement[11]
Personal life[]
He is married to lawyer Toni Rembe.[12] Together with his wife, Rock has been a supporter of Teach For America. The organization's annual Social Innovation Award is named in their honor.[13]
Rock was portrayed by actor J. K. Simmons in the 2013 biographical drama Jobs.
References[]
- ↑ "Arthur Rock (MBA '51) - Alumni - Harvard Business School". December 1997. https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/Pages/story-bulletin.aspx?num=5686.
- ↑ "Among America's Mega- Donors, Many Jews, but Few Gifts to Jews". Jewish Telegraph Agency. February 24, 2004. http://www.jta.org/2004/02/24/archive/among-americas-mega-donors-many-jews-but-few-gifts-to-jews.
- ↑ Video on YouTube
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Harvard Business School: "ARTHUR ROCK" retrieved October 8, 2015 Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Interview with Rob Walker Archived 2003-08-11 at the Wayback Machine. on November 12, 2002 as part of The Silicon Genesis Project Archived 2004-11-22 at the Wayback Machine. with Stanford University
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Harvard Business School Receives $25 Million from Venture Capitalist Arthur Rock". Harvard Business School. 2003-01-31. http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/013103_rock.html.
- ↑ "Arthur Rock". HBS Bulletin Online. http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/1997/december/rock.html.
- ↑ "Arthur Rock: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". investing.businessweek.com. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=77024.
- ↑ "Profile - Entrepreneurship - Harvard Business School". https://entrepreneurship.hbs.edu/founders/Pages/profile.aspx?num=24.
- ↑ "Who is Arthur Rock, the school board recall's biggest backer?". 9 February 2022. https://missionlocal.org/2022/02/arthur-rock-billionaire-donor-to-sf-school-board-recall-has-put-money-into-charter-schools-and-school-board-elections-for-decades/.
- ↑ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". American Academy of Achievement. https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business.
- ↑ "Stanford Launches the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance". Business Wire. 6 March 2006. http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/416452/stanford_launches_the_arthur_and_toni_rembe_rock_center_for/index.html.
- ↑ "The Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Social Innovation Award" (in en). https://www.teachforamerica.org/life-as-an-alum/alumni-resources/social-innovation-award.
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