Alan Patricof
Encyclopedia
Alan Patricof is an American investor and one of the early pioneers of the venture capital
and private equity
industries. Patricof founded Apax Partners
(based on a play on Patricof's name: Alan Patricof Associates Cross (x) Border), which is today one of the largest private equity firm
s globally.
Patricof was an early investor in venture capital
and has been involved in the development of numerous major companies including America Online, Office Depot
, Cadence Design Systems
, Apple Computer
and FORE Systems
. He was a founder and chairman of the board of New York magazine
, which later acquired the Village Voice and New West magazine. Patricof also acquired style magazine Details
in 1987. He has also been involved with Cellular Communications, Inc., NTL, and Audible.
By the mid-1990s Apax had become one of the larger private equity firms globally. In 2001, Patricof stepped back from day-to-day management of Apax Partners, Inc., the US arm of the firm to return to his original focus on making venture capital investments in small early-stage companies. In 2006, Patricof left Apax to form Greycroft Partners
which focuses on small early-stage venture capital investments.
Patricof received his undergraduate education in finance from Ohio State University
and earned his MBA from Columbia Business School
in 1957.
politics, contributing to candidates including Bill
and Hillary Clinton
, whom he met in the Hamptons
when they were there as guests of lobbyist and Democratic activist Liz Robbins.
Patricof is active in the New York community as a board member of both the New York Small Business Venture Fund and New Jobs for New York Association, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He also currently serves as an advisor to the Grassroots Business Fund
Cynthia Murphy, one of the alleged Russian spies arrested in the U.S. as part of the Illegals Program
in June 2010 had been trying to cultivate a relationship with Patricof, with her handlers telling her to "to try to build up little by little relations".
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
and private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
industries. Patricof founded Apax Partners
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
(based on a play on Patricof's name: Alan Patricof Associates Cross (x) Border), which is today one of the largest private equity firm
Private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment manager that makes investments in the private equity of operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leveraged buyout, venture capital, and growth capital...
s globally.
Career
Over the course of his 40-year career in private equity, Patricof has been instrumental in growing the venture capital field from a base of high net-worth individuals to its position today with broad institutional backing, as well as playing a key role in the essential legislative initiatives that have guided its evolution.Patricof was an early investor in venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
and has been involved in the development of numerous major companies including America Online, Office Depot
Office Depot
Office Depot is a supplier of office products and provides many services. The company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, printing, document reproduction, shipping,...
, Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems, Inc is an electronic design automation software and engineering services company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc...
, Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
and FORE Systems
FORE Systems
FORE Systems was a computer network switching equipment company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company is now part of Ericsson.-History:...
. He was a founder and chairman of the board of New York magazine
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
, which later acquired the Village Voice and New West magazine. Patricof also acquired style magazine Details
Details (magazine)
Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...
in 1987. He has also been involved with Cellular Communications, Inc., NTL, and Audible.
By the mid-1990s Apax had become one of the larger private equity firms globally. In 2001, Patricof stepped back from day-to-day management of Apax Partners, Inc., the US arm of the firm to return to his original focus on making venture capital investments in small early-stage companies. In 2006, Patricof left Apax to form Greycroft Partners
Greycroft Partners
Greycroft Partners is a venture capital firm focused on investments in early stage companies primarily in the digital media sector. The firm raised its first fund with $75 million of investor commitments and has deployed that fund into 34 companies....
which focuses on small early-stage venture capital investments.
Patricof received his undergraduate education in finance from Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
and earned his MBA from Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...
in 1957.
Personal
Patricof has three sons — Mark, Jamie and Jon. He also has six grandchildren: Mark and his wife Martha's children — Lily and Nina; Jamie and his wife Kelly's children — Riley and Sawyer; and Jon and his wife Victoria's children — Jack and Chloe.Political and other affiliations
Patricof has been active in Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politics, contributing to candidates including Bill
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, whom he met in the Hamptons
Hamptons
The Hamptons may refer to several villages and hamlets in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the far east end of Suffolk County in Long Island, New York. These townships occupy the South Fork of Long Island, stretching into the Atlantic Ocean. The Hamptons form a popular seaside resort,...
when they were there as guests of lobbyist and Democratic activist Liz Robbins.
Patricof is active in the New York community as a board member of both the New York Small Business Venture Fund and New Jobs for New York Association, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He also currently serves as an advisor to the Grassroots Business Fund
Grassroots Business Fund
The Grassroots Business Fund is a non-profit based in Washington, DC. It has field offices in Ghana, Kenya, and India. Their mission is to build and support high-impact enterprises that provide sustainable economic opportunities to thousands of people at the base of the economic pyramid...
Cynthia Murphy, one of the alleged Russian spies arrested in the U.S. as part of the Illegals Program
Illegals Program
The Illegals Program, as it was called by the United States Department of Justice, was a network of Russian sleeper agents under non-official cover whose investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation culminated in the arrest of ten agents and a prisoner swap between Russia and the United...
in June 2010 had been trying to cultivate a relationship with Patricof, with her handlers telling her to "to try to build up little by little relations".
External links
- Greycroft Partners (official website)
- Apax Partners (official website)
- Patricof, Alan. Individual Investors Need Tax Breaks, New York Times, December 4, 1988
- Grove, Lloyd. "World According to ... Alan Patricof" Portfolio.com, December 4, 2007.