Vinod Khosla Height, Weight, Age, Net Worth, Education

Vinod Khosla is an American businessman and venture capitalist who is best known as the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Inc. This now-defunct American technology company used to sell computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. It also created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS (a file system with volume management capabilities), the Network File System (a distributed file system protocol), and SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) microprocessors. Vinod is also the founder and managing director of Khosla Ventures, an American venture capital firm (a firm that invests in early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake) focused on companies in the Internet, computing, mobile, financial services, agriculture, healthcare, and clean technology sectors. Khosla Ventures manages approximately USD 15 billion of investor capital including investments funded by Vinod himself.

Born Name

Vinod Khosla

Nick Name

Vinod

Sun Sign

Aquarius

Born Place

Pune, Maharashtra, India

Residence

Portola Valley, San Mateo County, California, United States

Nationality

Education

Vinod had attended Mount St. Mary’s School in Delhi, India.

After his high school graduation, between 1971 and 1976, he studied at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Delhi, an ‘Institute of National Importance’ (a status that may be conferred on a premier public higher education institution in India). He graduated from there with a B.Tech. (Bachelor of Technology) degree in electrical engineering.

Vinod later joined Carnegie Mellon University, a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, on a full scholarship. He attained an M.Sc. (Master of Science) degree in biomedical engineering there.

Soon after, he joined the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. He graduated from there in 1980 with an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree.

Occupation

Businessman, Venture Capitalist

Family

• Father – His father was an officer in the Indian Army.
• Siblings – Bikky Khosla (Younger Brother) (Entrepreneur)

Net Worth

On January 7, 2024, Vinod Khosla’s net worth was $6.6 billion according to Forbes.

Build

Slim

Height

5 ft 9 in or 175 cm

Weight

72 kg or 158.5 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Vinod has dated –

1. Neeru Khosla (1980-Present) – Vinod married his childhood acquaintance Neeru in 1980. They have 4 children together – a son named Neal Khosla (Entrepreneur); and 3 daughters named Nina Khosla, Vani Khosla (Equestrian, Business Executive), and Anu Khosla.

Race / Ethnicity

Asian (Indian)

Hair Color

Gray

Eye Color

Light Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Slender frame
• Short-cropped, side-parted hair
• Cheerful smile
• Clean-shaven look

Vinod Khosla Facts

1. Although Vinod was born in Pune, Maharashtra, he did most of his schooling in New Delhi, as his father, an officer in the Indian Army, was stationed there at that time.
2. As a teenager, he became interested in entrepreneurship and a career in technology after reading about the founding of Intel Corporation (an American multinational corporation and technology company that went on to become one of the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturers) in an electronics industry magazine.
3. A couple of years later, Vinod wrote a paper on parallel processing – well before the concept was adopted by the information technology industry in India.
4. During his time at IIT Delhi (1971-1976), he started what was the first computer club in any of the 5 IITs in existence at that time. It focused on computer programming and even operated the institute’s computer center whenever the operations staff were on strike.
5. In 1975, Vinod attempted to start a soy milk company that could provide an alternative to Indian households that did not have refrigerators to preserve cow milk.
6. After graduating from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1980, he rejected several employment offers so that he could focus on developing a business plan for an electronic design automation company. With the help of some employees of Intel Corporation, he founded Daisy Systems Corporation in 1981.
7. Vinod also served as the chief financial officer of this computer-aided engineering company, a pioneer in the electronic design automation (EDA) industry. In 1981, he co-founded a company called Data Dump but the venture failed.
8. In February 1982, he co-founded Sun Microsystems, Inc. (SUN is an acronym for the Stanford University Network). The company initially sold servers to the universities that its co-founders had graduated from. Within 5 years of its foundation, the firm generated USD 1 billion in annual sales. He served as the first chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. – from 1982 until 1984.
9. Vinod then left the company to become a venture capitalist. In 1986, he joined the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins as a general partner (a person who has responsibility for the actions of the business and is personally liable for all of the business’s debts and obligations). There, he primarily managed investments in technologies, such as video games and semiconductors.
10. In 2000, he was honored with the ‘Golden Plate Award’ by the American Academy of Achievement, a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields.
11. In 2004, after nearly 2 decades of immense success at Kleiner Perkins, Vinod founded his own venture capital firm – Khosla Ventures. The firm built its reputation through early investments in alternative energy technology like solar, biofuel, and batteries. By 2008, the company had a portfolio of 65 startups – mostly focused on clean technology.
12. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked him 92nd on its “Forbes 400” list, a ranking of the wealthiest 400 American citizens.

Featured Image by The Economic Times / Instagram