Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO Social Capital, on Money as an Instrument of Change
Career as a venture capitalist
See also: Social Capital (venture capital)
2017
During his View From The Top talk, Chamath Palihapitiya, founder and CEO of Social Capital, discussed how money is an instrument of change which should be used to make the world a better place. “Money drives the world for better or for worse. Money is going to be made and allocated – you have a moral imperative to get it and then use it to make a difference.“
Palihapitiya was born in Sri Lanka and, at the age of six, moved with his family to Canada as refugees. Throughout his childhood, Palihapitiya's father was constantly unemployed and his mother was a housekeeper, and later a nurses' aide. Living on welfare, Palihapitiya recalls sleeping on a mattress in the living room. He attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute while working part time to assist his family, and graduated at the age of 17.
After graduating from the University of Waterloo in 1999 with a degree in electrical engineering, Palihapitiya worked for a year as a derivatives trader at the investment bank BMO Nesbitt Burns. He moved to California to be with his then-girlfriend, Brigette Lau, and they later married. In 2018 Palihapitiya filed for divorce.
http://www.andrevanier.blogspot.com/2017/07/former-facebook-exec-chamath.html