Ben Horowitz

Born 1966 · Age 59

Ben Horowitz (born June 13, 1966) is an American technology entrepreneur, investor, author, blogger and co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He co-founded Loudcloud/Opsware (sold to HP in 2007) and is the author of two business books.

Total Events

Career Span

59 years

Peak Net Worth

$1,800,000,000

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Life & Career Timeline

1966Age 0

Born in London, England

Benjamin Abraham Horowitz was born in London and later raised in Berkeley, California; son of Elissa Krauthamer and David Horowitz.

6/13/1966Source

Confidence

99%

1988Age 22

Earned BA in Computer Science, Columbia University

Horowitz received a BA in computer science from Columbia College, Columbia University.

1/1/1988Net Worth: $10,000Source

Confidence

98%

1988Age 22

Married Felicia Wiley

Ben Horowitz married Felicia Wiley (they later have three children).

1/1/1988Net Worth: $10,000Source

Confidence

95%

1990Age 24

Earned MS in Computer Science, UCLA

Horowitz completed a Master of Science in computer science at UCLA.

1/1/1990Net Worth: $20,000Source

Confidence

98%

1990Age 24

Joined Silicon Graphics as engineer

Began professional career as an engineer at Silicon Graphics.

1/1/1990Net Worth: $25,000Source

Confidence

95%

1995Age 29

Joined Netscape as Product Manager

Horowitz joined Marc Andreessen at Netscape as a product manager.

1/1/1995Net Worth: $80,000Source

Confidence

97%

1996Age 30

Wrote influential Netscape memo on product management

Authored internal memo 'Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager' (widely-cited inside industry).

1/1/1996Net Worth: $90,000Source

Confidence

60%

1997Age 31

Promoted to VP, Directory & Security Product Line, Netscape

Served as Vice President for Netscape's Directory & Security product line (1997–1998).

1/1/1997Net Worth: $150,000Source

Confidence

95%

1998Age 32

Netscape acquired by AOL; Horowitz becomes VP at AOL

After AOL acquired Netscape in 1998, Horowitz served as Vice President of AOL's eCommerce division.

1/1/1998Net Worth: $200,000Source

Confidence

95%

1999Age 33

Co-founded Loudcloud

Cofounded Loudcloud (infrastructure and application hosting) with Marc Andreessen, Tim Howes, and In Sik Rhee.

9/1/1999Net Worth: $300,000Source

Confidence

98%

2001Age 34

Loudcloud IPO on NASDAQ

Took Loudcloud public on March 9, 2001; company stock history later ebbed and recovered during transition to Opsware.

3/9/2001Net Worth: $5,000,000Source

Confidence

95%

2002Age 36

Transformed Loudcloud into Opsware

Began strategic transformation of Loudcloud into enterprise software company Opsware (June 2002).

1/1/2002Net Worth: $8,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2002Age 36

Sold Loudcloud hosting business to EDS for $63.5M

Sold the managed services/hosting division to Electronic Data Systems for $63.5 million in cash (deal transferred 100% of Loudcloud revenue to EDS).

1/1/2002Net Worth: $15,000,000Source

Confidence

95%

2002Age 36

Opsware stock hits low point (nadir)

During Opsware's turbulent public history, shares sank to a nadir of approximately $0.35 per share (company later recovered).

1/1/2002Net Worth: $12,000,000Source

Confidence

65%

2006Age 40

Opsware grows to 550 employees and >$100M revenue

Opsware expanded to hundreds of enterprise customers, more than $100M in annual revenue, and ~550 employees (milestone achieved during pre-sale growth).

1/1/2006Net Worth: $60,000,000Source

Confidence

86%

2007Age 41

Sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard for $1.6B

Hewlett-Packard acquired Opsware for $1.6 billion in cash (July 2007); Horowitz was President & CEO at sale.

7/1/2007Net Worth: $300,000,000Source

Confidence

55%

2007Age 41

Joined Hewlett-Packard as VP & General Manager (HP Software)

Spent approx. one year at HP as Vice President & General Manager in HP Software, overseeing ~3,000 employees and $2.8B in annual revenue.

9/1/2007Net Worth: $320,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2008Age 42

Left Hewlett-Packard after ~1 year

Completed ~one-year tenure at HP Software following Opsware acquisition.

10/1/2008Net Worth: $320,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2009Age 43

Co-founded Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen launched the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to invest in early-stage and growth technology companies.

7/6/2009Net Worth: $350,000,000Source

Confidence

98%

2010Age 44

a16z early investments (firm activity)

Andreessen Horowitz began making large, public investments in major tech companies (firm activity accelerated after founding).

1/1/2010Net Worth: $420,000,000Source

Confidence

80%

2011Age 45

Recognized on major industry lists (Vanity Fair & CNET)

Horowitz (and Andreessen) ranked No. 6 on Vanity Fair's 2011 New Establishment List; a16z partners were named among CNET's Most Influential Investors (2011).

1/1/2011Net Worth: $480,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2012Age 46

Pledged to donate half of lifetime VC income

In April 2012, Horowitz and some a16z partners pledged to donate half of their lifetime venture capital incomes to charitable organizations.

1/1/2012Net Worth: $610,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2012Age 45

a16z raises $1.5B for third fund

Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.5 billion for its third fund (reported Jan 31, 2012); by roughly three years after founding the firm had $2.7B under management.

1/31/2012Net Worth: $600,000,000Source

Confidence

95%

2014Age 47

Published 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things'

Released The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (widely read management/entrepreneurship book).

3/1/2014Net Worth: $700,000,000Source

Confidence

95%

2017Age 51

Spoke publicly on startup survival & pivots

Participated in industry podcasts and events (e.g., 'Stories of Startup Survival Mode' February 2017) discussing CEO challenges, pivots and survival mode.

1/1/2017Net Worth: $750,000,000Source

Confidence

85%

2018Age 52

Podcast on mentorship & leadership (July 2018)

Appeared on a16z/other podcasts discussing mentorship, leadership, and his mentor relationships (July 2018 episode referenced).

1/1/2018Net Worth: $780,000,000Source

Confidence

80%

2019Age 53

Published 'What You Do Is Who You Are'

Published second book, What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture (Sept 26, 2019 archived).

9/26/2019Net Worth: $900,000,000Source

Confidence

95%

2020Age 54

Serves on multiple company boards

Served on boards/advisory roles at companies such as Anyscale, Databricks, Mayvenn, NationBuilder, Okta, Tanium, Navan, UnitedMasters and others (a16z-related board roles).

1/1/2020Net Worth: $1,000,000,000Source

Confidence

85%

2023Age 57

Guest on SafeGraph 'World of DaaS' podcast

Appeared on SafeGraph podcast discussing venture capital, Opsware history and AI (Oct 24, 2023).

10/24/2023Net Worth: $1,200,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2024Age 58

Public political donation announcement (pro-Trump PACs)

In July 2024 Horowitz announced he would donate to super PACs supporting Donald Trump's presidential campaign (public announcement).

1/1/2024Net Worth: $1,500,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2024Age 58

Announced significant donations supporting Kamala Harris

In October 2024 Horowitz announced that he and his wife would make 'significant' donations to groups supporting Kamala Harris, citing long-standing friendship.

10/1/2024Net Worth: $1,500,000,000Source

Confidence

70%

2025Age 58

Donated $3M to MAGA Inc. (first half 2025)

During the first half of 2025 Horowitz donated $3 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Donald Trump.

1/1/2025Net Worth: $1,487,000,000Source

Confidence

90%

2025Age 59

a16z announces large new fundraises (reported)

Andreessen Horowitz announced major new fundraises (site content references $7.2B across several funds and also mention of $9B in new capital for Venture, Growth and Bio funds).