Doug Leone

At age 11, Leone moved with his parents from Italy to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry and lived in Mount Vernon, New York. In his Sequoia profile, he said that his early immigrant experience pushed him to learn how to adapt to unfamiliar environments.⁠[1]

He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is a private research university in Ithaca, New York, and a member of the Ivy League. It is New York State's federal land-grant university, a distinction unique within the Ivy League. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White founded the university in 1865, and it opened in 1868. In addition to its Ithaca campus, Cornell operates Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Tech in New York City and a medical college in Qatar. It enrolled 26,793 students in fall 2024. Its president is Michael I. Kotlikoff.Open the full entry, a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University, formally Columbia University in the City of New York, is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1754 by royal charter from King George II as King's College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York State and the fifth oldest in the United States. It was renamed Columbia College in 1784 and adopted the university name and moved to Manhattan's Morningside Heights in 1896. It has 17 schools and four affiliated colleges, with 35,978 students enrolled in fall 2025. Legal scholar Jennifer L. Mnookin became president on July 1, 2026.Open the full entry, and a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before joining Sequoia, he worked in sales and sales management at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Prime Computer.⁠[2]

In 1988, Don Valentine gave Leone the opportunity to join Sequoia. He became a partner in 1993, began helping lead the firm in 1996, and subsequently drove the development of its China and India businesses.⁠[1]

Nubank’s board biography records that he served as co-lead of Sequoia’s partnership from 1996 to 2012 and as global managing partner from 2012 to 2022. In 2022, he handed his main leadership responsibilities to Roelof Botha and then continued to take part in board work at portfolio companies.⁠[3][4]

Sequoia began investing in Meraki in 2006. A retrospective by Leone and the founding team shows that the company tried directions including wireless networks for buildings, cities, and homes before focusing on the networking needs of small and medium-sized businesses, and was acquired by CiscoCiscoCisco Systems, Inc. is an American networking technology company, incorporated in 1984, headquartered in San Jose, California, and listed on Nasdaq.Open the full entry in 2012. He regards patiently supporting the team as it searched for a market as an important lesson from this investment.⁠[5]

In 2009, Sequoia began working with ServiceNow. Leone and Pat Grady found that the company’s business growth had outpaced its internal operating capabilities, and so helped founder Fred Luddy assess the division of management responsibilities and search for a new chief executive officer; Frank Slootman took over in 2011, and Luddy moved to focus on product.⁠[6]

He has also long been involved in the development of the digital bank Nubank. Corporate governance materials show that Leone has served as a director since 2016, joined the compensation and people committee in 2021, and joined the nominating and corporate governance committee in August 2026.⁠[3]

On December 9, 2020, Wiz (cloud security company)Wiz (cloud security company)Wiz is a cloud and AI security platform company headquartered in New York, founded in January 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica and Roy Reznik. Google announced an all-cash agreement to acquire Wiz for $32 billion in March 2025 and completed the deal on March 11, 2026; Wiz joined Google Cloud and kept its brand.Open the full entry emerged from stealth with $100 million in Series A financing from Index VenturesIndex VenturesIndex Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in Geneva in 1996. It invests from seed through growth and operates across London, San Francisco and New York, supporting technology companies through a transatlantic network.Open the full entry, Sequoia, Insight Partners and Cyberstarts; Doug Leone, global managing partner of Sequoia Capital, joined the Wiz board.⁠[7]

On April 30, 2026, Leone announced that he had become chairman of the board of Cresta, supporting the company’s development of its customer experience AI business for large enterprises.⁠[8]

In July, he and Bogomil Balkansky co-authored an article discussing the combined business of Cyera and Oasis, arguing that data security and non-human identity management must jointly address the access-permission risks posed by AI agents. The article indicates that Sequoia had previously backed both companies separately.⁠[9]

In August, in an interview with David Senra, he said he had again increased his involvement in Sequoia’s work, taking part in partner meetings and helping teams judge important business milestones. He said the changes brought by AI force investors to relearn, and that they cannot rely entirely on experience accumulated in the past.⁠[4]

In an interview released by David Senra, Leone described three tests: whether he would invest his children's money, whether the opportunity would merit one of only 20 lifetime investments, and whether it could return an entire fund. He used these questions to focus on exceptional companies.⁠[4]

As of November 2026 Doug Leone was a member of the board of data security company CyeraCyeraCyera is a data and AI security company founded in 2021 by Yotam Segev and Tamar Bar-Ilan; its platform discovers, classifies and protects enterprise sensitive data and governs what data AI agents can reach. After emerging from stealth in March 2022 it raised a series of funding rounds, including $600 million at a $12 billion valuation in June 2026.Open the full entry, listed as a partner at Sequoia Capital.⁠[10]

In an article on building enterprise sales teams, Leone argued for first validating the product and customer demand before gradually expanding the sales organization, and cautioned founders against hiring senior sales leaders too early.⁠[11]

He stresses that investors should help founders turn a product into a company, including support with hiring, the sales organization, and difficult moments. In a 2026 interview, he also reflected on the venture capital industry’s tendency to sell great companies too early, saying their long-term growth potential must be carefully assessed.⁠[4]

Sequoia Capital: Investment firm where he is a partner; Official website: https://sequoiacap.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1][12]

Cresta: Enterprise AI company where he is chairman of the board; Official website: https://cresta.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

Nubank: Digital financial services company where he is a director; Official website: https://nu.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

Cornell University: His alma mater; Official website: https://www.cornell.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

Columbia University: His alma mater; Official website: https://www.columbia.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: His alma mater; Official website: https://www.mit.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

X: Public account: https://x.com/dougleone (opens in a new window).⁠[12]