List of University of California, Berkeley alumni in business
This page lists notable alumni and students of the University of California, Berkeley. Alumni who also served as faculty are listed in bold font, with degree and year.
Notable faculty members are in the article List of UC Berkeley faculty.
See also: University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Founders and co-founders
- Tom Anderson, B.A. 1998 – co-founder of social networking website MySpace
- Brian Behlendorf – co-founder of the Apache Software Foundation, Mozilla Foundation board member, co-founder and CTO of CollabNet
- Joan Blades, B.A. 1977 – co-founder of software company Berkeley Systems, co-founder of political activist group MoveOn.org
- Richard C. Blum, B.S. 1958, M.B.A. 1959 – founder of private equity firm Blum Capital and the American Himalayan Foundation, Regent of the University of California
- Richard Bolt, B.A. 1933, M.A. 1937, Ph.D. 1939 – co-founder of ARPANET developer Bolt, Beranek and Newman
- Eric Brewer, B.S. EECS 1989 – co-founder of web search engine company Inktomi, director of Intel Labs Berkeley; lead researcher at Google
- Gary Chevsky, attended for undergraduate degree 1990-1994 – co-founder and chief architect of web search engine company Ask Jeeves, Senior VP at Symantec and YouSendIt
- Frederick Gardner Cottrell, B.S. Chemistry, 1896 – founder of patent holding company Research Corporation ; inventor of the electrostatic precipitator, which removes pollution from factory exhaust fumes; inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1992
- Ed Crane, B.S. 1967 – founder of the Cato Institute
- David Culler, B.A. 1980 – Chair of the Department of Computer Science at UC Berkeley, associate Chair of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and Associate CIO of the College of Engineering ; co-founder of smart grid monitoring company Arch Rock
- Weili Dai, B.A. Computer Science 1984 – co-founder of NASDAQ-100 broadband technology company Marvell Technology Group; namesake of Sutardja-Dai Hall on the UC Berkeley campus
- Lee Felsenstein, B.S. EECS 1972 – founder of Community Memory, designer of Osborne 1 computer, mediator of Homebrew Computer Club, from which would emerge 23 companies, including Apple Inc.
- Charles H. Ferguson, B.A. 1978 – co-founder of Vermeer Technologies Incorporated, founder and president of Representational Pictures, winner of an Academy Award for Best Documentary for Inside Job, Academy Award nomination for the documentary film No End in Sight, former fellow at the Brookings Institution, lifelong member of the Council on Foreign Relations
- Donald Fisher, B.S. 1951 – founder and former CEO of NYSE-listed S&P 500 clothing retailer The Gap, the largest apparel retailer in the United States
- Rob Fulop, B.S. CS 1980 – co-founder of video game companies Imagic and PF Magic, Atari engineer, developed Missile Command and Night Driver
- Steve Gibson – founder of software security company Gibson Research Corporation and co-host of Security Now!
- Edward Ginzton, BS 1936, MS 1937 – researcher in klystron tubes, co-founder of Varian Associates
- Diane Greene, MS CS 1988 – co-founder of NYSE-listed company VMWare
- Garrett Gruener, M.A. Political Science 1977 – co-founder of web search engine company Ask Jeeves
- Ashraf Habibullah, S.E., M.S. 1970 – co-creator of the first computer-based structural-engineering applications and founder, President, and CEO of the structural-engineering software company Computers and Structures, Inc.
- John Hanke, MBA 1996 – founder and CEO of Keyhole, Inc. ; founder of video game company Niantic
- William Haseltine, B.A. 1966 - founder of Cambridge BioSciences and Dendreon Corp.
- F. Warren Hellman, BA 1955 – founder of Hellman & Friedman and Matrix Partners, former chairman, head of Investment Banking Division at Lehman Brothers; founder of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, founder of The Bay Citizen
- Mike Homer, B.S. 1981 – co-founder and former CEO of networking company Kontiki
- David T. Hon B.S. 1964 – physicist and founder of Dahon folding bicycles
- Chenming Hu, MS EE, PhD EE – Distinguished Professor of Microelectronics at UC Berkeley, co-founder and chairman of Celestry Design Technologies ; recipient of the Phil Kaufman Award; co-inventor of the 3D transistor
- Kai Huang, B.A. 1994 – co-founder and president of video game company RedOctane
- Bill Joy, M.S. 1982 – co-founder of computer software and hardware manufacturer Sun Microsystems
- Gene Kan, B.S. 1997 – founder of distributed search engine InfraSearch
- Victor Koo, co-founder of Chinese video website Youku, whose American depositary shares were listed on the NYSE in 2010 and which was acquired by Alibaba in 2016 for $5.4 billion; formerly president of Chinese internet company Sohu
- Anthony Levandowski, B.S. Industrial Engineering 2002, M.S. IEOR 2003 – co-founder
- David R. Liu, Ph.D. 1999 - co-founder of Editas Medicine
- Daniel S. Loeb, attended – founder of hedge fund Third Point Management
- Thomas J. Long, B.S. 1932 – founder of pharmaceutical retailer Longs Drugs
- Samuel Madden, PhD – co-founder of Vertica Systems of energy bar food company PowerBar ; namesake of the Maxwell Family Field on the UC Berkeley campus
- Nick McKeown, MS 1992, PhD 1995 – co-founder and former CTO of Abrizio, co-founder and former CEO of Nemo Systems, co-founder of software-defined networking company Nicira Networks ; Kleiner Perkins Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University
- Paul Merage, B.S. Business 1966, MBA 1968 – co-founder and former CEO of Hot Pockets frozen food company Chef America Inc.
- Alan Miller, B.S. EECS 1973 – co-founder of first independent video game publisher Activision, co-founder and former CEO of video game company Accolade
- Gordon Moore, B.S. 1950 – co-founder of NASDAQ-100 company Intel, originator of Moore's Law
- Lowell North, B.S.1951 – gold medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, founder of North Sails
- Michael Olson, B.A. 1991, M.A. 1992 – founder and CEO of commercial Apache Hadoop vendor Cloudera; former CEO of database software company Sleepycat Software, co-author of database software BerkeleyDB
- Pierre Omidyar, attended to complete his undergraduate degree in computer science – founder of NASDAQ-100 web auction site eBay
- Kim Polese, B.S. 1984 – CEO of software company SpikeSource; original product manager of the Java at Sun Microsystems; co-founder and former CEO of software company Marimba
- Lars Rasmussen, Ph. D 1992 – co-founder of Where 2 Technologies ; co-founder of Google Wave; researcher at Facebook
- Warren Robinett, M.S. C.S. 1976 – originator of Easter eggs, co-founder of edutainment software company The Learning Company
- Terry Rosen, Ph.D. Chemistry – co-founder and CEO of Arcus Biosciences
- Andrew Rudd, MS 1972, MBA 1976, PhD 1978 – co-founder and chairman and CEO of Barra Inc.
- John Schaeffer, 1971 – founder of NASDAQ-listed solar energy retailer Real Goods Solar and the Solar Living Center
- Jim Simons, Ph.D. 1972 – founder of $84 billion hedge fund Renaissance Technologies; mathematician; philanthropist
- Nat Simons, B.S 1989, M.S. 1994 – founder of investment management firm Meritage Group ; founder of Prelude Ventures; businessman; philanthropist
- Charles Simonyi, B.S. 1972 – founder of Intentional Software; former head of Microsoft's flagship Office applications; fifth space tourist; at Xerox PARC he created the first WYSIWYG word processor, Bravo; joined Microsoft to spread the WYSIWYG and computer mouse gospel; originally from Hungary, he is the "Hungarian" in Hungarian notation, which he created
- James Solomon, B.S. EE, M.S. EE – founder of electronic design automation company SDA Systems ; recipient of the Phil Kaufman Award, the "Nobel Prize" of the electronic design industry"
- Masayoshi Son, B.A. 1980 – founder and CEO of TYO-listed Japanese telecommunications and media giant Softbank, venture capital firm Softbank Capital
- Dawn Song, Ph.D. – founder of Oasis Labs
- Cornelius Vander Starr – founder of AIG Corporation
- Paul Stephens, B.S. 1967, M.B.A. 1969 – investment banker, co-founder of Robertson Stephens & Company
- Sehat Sutardja, M.S. 1983, Ph.D. 1988 EECS – co-founder of NASDAQ-100 broadband technology company Marvell Technology Group; namesake of Sutardja-Dai Hall on the UC Berkeley campus
- Jon F. Vein, B.A., founder of MarketShare ; Emmy Award-winning producer
- Cher Wang, M.A. 1981 – founder and chairperson of TWSE-listed smartphone manufacturer HTC Corporation and TWSE-listed electronics manufacturer VIA Technologies
- Edward Wang, B.S. EECS 1983, M.S. 1988, Ph.D. 1994 – co-founder and Principal Engineer of NYSE-listed software company VMware
- Alice Waters, B.A. 1967 – celebrity chef, founder of Chez Panisse, originator of the California cuisine; 2015 National Humanities Medal recipient for "celebrating the bond between the ethical and the edible. As a chef, author, and advocate, Ms. Waters champions a holistic approach to eating and health and celebrates integrating gardening, cooking, and education, sparking inspiration in a new generation"; member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; recipient of five James Beard Foundation Awards
- Norm Winningstad, BSEE 1948 – founder of Lattice Semiconductor and video game peripheral manufacturer Thrustmaster
- Dean Witter, 1909 – co-founder and partner, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
- Steve Wozniak, class of 1976, graduated B.S. 1986 – co-founder of NASDAQ-100 computer software and hardware manufacturer Apple Inc, member of the National Academy of Engineering; Chief Scientist of flash memory enterprise company Fusion-io ;namesake of the Wozniak Lounge in Soda Hall
- Michael Yang, B.S. 1983, MBA 1995 – founder of Become.com; co-founder of MySimon.com
Chairs, presidents, and CEOs
- Charles Anderson, BS Chemistry 1938 – CEO and President of Stanford Research International
- Mitchell Baker, B.A. 1979, J.D. 1987 – current Chairperson and former CEO of the web browser company Mozilla Corporation, current Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation, recipient of the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award in 2008; inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame
- William F. Ballhaus, Jr., B.S. 1967, M.S. 1968, Ph.D. 1971 – director of NASDAQ company OSI Systems, former president and CEO of Aerospace Corporation, former director of NASA's Ames Research Center
- Brian Barish, B.A. 1991 – President of the investment firm Cambiar Investors, LLC.
- Bengt Baron, B.S. 1985, M.B.A. 1988 – CEO of V&S Group ; former CEO of Absolut Vodka; 1980 Summer Olympics gold medalist in 100m men's backstroke
- Philip M. Condit, B.S. 1963 – Chairman and CEO of NYSE-listed S&P 500 aerospace corporation The Boeing Company from 1996 to 2003
- Rick Cronk, B.S. Business 1965 – co-owner and former President of NASDAQ-listed ice cream company Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream ; former national president of the Boy Scouts of America and the outgoing chairman of the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
- Patricia Dunn, B.A. 1975 – former Chairwoman of NYSE-listed S&P 500 computer products company Hewlett-Packard
- Michael R. Gallagher, B.A. Business 1967, MBA 1968 – former CEO and Director of Playtex Products, Inc., from 1995 to 2004
- Mandy Ginsberg, BA – CEO of Internet dating site Match.com, CEO of instructional web site Tutor.com
- Greg Greeley, MBA 1998 – President of Homes of Airbnb; former vice president of Amazon Prime
- Andrew Grove, Ph.D. 1963 – 4th employee of NASDAQ-100 semiconductor company Intel, and eventually its President, CEO, and Chairman, and TIME magazine's Man of the Year in 1997
- Walter A. Haas, Sr., B.S. 1910 – former President and CEO of clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co.
- Walter A. Haas, Jr., B.S. 1937 – former President and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.
- H. Robert Heller, Ph.D. Economics 1965 – President and CEO of VISA U.S.A. and Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- Paul E. Jacobs, B.S. 1984, M.S. 1986, Ph. D 1989 – CEO of NASDAQ-100 wireless telecommunications semiconductor company Qualcomm
- Joseph Jimenez, M.B.A. 1984 – CEO of Novartis
- Douglas Leeds, B.A. Political Economy – CEO of Ask.com
- Howard Lincoln, B.A. 1962, J.D. 1965 – former Chairman of video game company Nintendo of America, Chairman and CEO of the Seattle Mariners; recipient of the inaugural Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award
- Shantanu Narayen, M.B.A. 1993 – President and CEO of NASDAQ-100 software company Adobe Systems Inc.
- Paul Otellini, M.B.A. 1974 – CEO of NASDAQ-100 semiconductor company Intel
- Rudolph A. Peterson, B.S. 1925, President and CEO of NYSE-listed S&P 500 financial services company Bank of America
- John Riccitiello, B.S. 1981 – CEO of NASDAQ-100 video game company Electronic Arts ; managing director and co-founder of Elevation Partners; former president and chief operating officer of Electronic Arts ; former President and Chief Executive Officer, Bakery Division, at Sara Lee; former President and Chief Executive Officer of Wilson Sporting Goods
- Arun Sarin, M.S. 1978, M.B.A. 1978 – CEO of London-based NASDAQ-100 wireless service provider company Vodafone
- Eric Schmidt, M.S. 1979, Ph.D. 1982 – Inaugural CEO of NASDAQ-100 Internet search company Google ; executive chairman at Google, 136th-richest person in the world in 2011
- Jeff Shell, BAS Economics and Applied Math– Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment and Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors
- Masayoshi Son, B.A. 1980 – President and CEO of Japanese Telecommunication Company Softbank
- Ron Suber, B.A. - President Emeritus of Prosper Marketplace
- Robert Tjian, BS Biochemistry – molecular biologist, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Cher Wang, M.A. 1981 – Chair of computer motherboard manufacturer TWSE-listed VIA Technologies and TWSE-listed portable electronics manufacturer HTC Corporation
Vice presidents, CFOs, COOs, CMOs, and CTOs
- E. Floyd Kvamme, B.S. EECS 1959 – former vice president and president at NYSE-listed S&P 500 semiconductor manufacturer company National Semiconductor, former vice president at Apple Computer, venture capitalist Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
- Bob Lutz, B.S. 1961, M.B.A. 1962 – General Motors Vice Chairman, Product Development, and Chairman, General Motors North America, former Vice Chairman for Chrysler
- Jack McCauley, BS EECS 1986 – engineer who designed the devices used in the video game Guitar Hero; co-developed the virtual reality goggles known as Oculus Rift from Oculus VR; Vice President of Engineering at Oculus VR
- Gabriel Stricker, B.A. 1994 – Vice President of Communications at Niantic, former CCO of Twitter
Wine
- William Harlan, B.A. 1963 – Harlan Estate, Bond, the Napa Valley Reserve, a cult wine Cabernet Sauvignon producer
- Jess S. Jackson, J.D. 1974 – founder of Kendall Jackson Wine Estates
Other
- Stewart Blusson, Ph.D. 1964 – multimillionaire diamond magnate
- Jean Paul Getty – founder of the Getty Oil Company
- Don Graham – developer of the Ala Moana Center
- William Randolph Hearst, Jr. – newspaper publisher
- Olivia Somerlyn, known as LIVVIA, B.S. 2018 – singer/songwriter
- Sonita Lontoh, B.S. 1999 – green technology executive
- Michael Milken, B.S. 1968 – billionaire financier, Drexel Burnham Lambert, philanthropist
- Douglas W. Shorenstein, BA – real estate developer; served as chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
- Edgar Steele – author and disbarred trial attorney, defense attorney for Richard G. Butler, of Aryan Nations, convicted of murder-for-hire