Botha Took SpaceX Board Seat Without Sequoia Sign-Off: FT
TL;DR
- Roelof Botha joined SpaceX's board over the summer without clearing it with Sequoia's compliance team or wider partnership, the Financial Times reports.
- The board seat could complicate Sequoia's ability to trade its roughly $20 billion SpaceX stake, according to the report.
- New co-stewards Alfred Lin and Pat Grady have closed Sequoia's London office, merged early-stage and growth teams, and ended the Scouts program.
Roelof Botha took a seat on SpaceX's board over the summer without first clearing it with Sequoia Capital's compliance team or wider partnership, according to a Financial Times report relayed by TechCrunch. Partners at the venture firm were blindsided, one source told the FT, saying Botha "didn't ask compliance, he didn't get sign off from the partnership."
The role matters for more than etiquette. Sequoia holds a roughly $20 billion stake in SpaceX, and the board position could complicate the firm's ability to trade its $20 billion stake, per the report. Botha stepped down as Sequoia's steward last year, with Alfred Lin and Pat Grady named co-stewards; this week the firm announced the closure of its London office, the merger of its early-stage and growth teams, and the end of its Scouts program.
Whether that package reads as a reset or an undoing depends on who is talking. One FT source framed the reshape as unwinding Botha's legacy. Another countered that it looks like "erasure of Sequoia's heritage, not Roelof's legacy." Internal friction predated the SpaceX seat: a source said Botha "loved process and hierarchy," while the rest of the team didn't.
A Sequoia spokesperson said the firm continues to "collaborate closely" with Botha.
Originally reported by techcrunch.com
Read the original article →Original headline: Sequoia Partners Blindsided as Roelof Botha Took SpaceX Board Seat Without Firm Sign-Off