George Lucas
Company: Lucasfilm
Home: Nicasio
Based on the classic story of a young man’s battle with the forces of evil, Star Wars introduced a modern myth to a new generation. It also revolutionized special effects, forged new frontiers in sound design, and brought audiences to movie theaters in record numbers. In the late ’70s, he established Lucas Films Ltd. in Marin County, a 2,700-acre production center and think tank. Here, at Skywalker Ranch, he presides over a vast entertainment empire (which includes THX, Skywalker Sound, and Industrial Light and Magic) that continuously expands visual and technological possibilities.
L. John Doerr
Company: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Home: Woodside
In 1974 John joined small chipmaker Intel just as they invented the legendary 8080 microprocessor. Today, he is a partner at venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he has backed Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt from Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Scott Cook and Bill Campbell of Intuit, and others. John joined KPCB in 1980 and soon started Silicon Compilers, a VLSI CAD software company, and @Home, the first broadband cable Internet service. Not only is he a member of the board at Google, Bezos called him the “center of the Internet.” He is adamantly passionate about green technology and is active in the fight against global warming. He is currently backing a slew of green technological measures, including Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection.
Vinod Khosla
Company: Khosla Ventures
Home: Menlo Park
Silicon Valley’s preeminent eco investor-named the No. 1 venture capitalist by both Fortune and Forbes-Khosla invested more than $300 million of his personal fortune into start-up green technologies. Vinod Khosla was formerly a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins and founder of Sun Microsystems. He also co-founded design automation company Daisy Systems early 1980s, and founded venture capital firm Khosla Ventures in 2004 to build businesses for the Internet, and the computing, mobile, and silicon and green technology arenas.
Steven Jobs
Company: Apple
Home: Palo Alto
The figurehead behind the always customer-focused Apple brand, Jobs is arguably a modern Merlin, consistently changing our lives by pulling new tech wizardry out of thin air. From the iPod to the MacBook, he oversees a brand whose ongoing innovation in hardware, software, consumer products, and product design raises the bar for the marketplace. He also revolutionized the way people get their music, thanks to iTunes. The CEO even figured out how to sell applications for the iPhone with the Apps Store, which is fast on its way to becoming a billion-dollar business (and one whose success has inspired a slew of desperate imitators). As a result, the Cupertino company’s shares have risen more than 1,000 percent over the past 10 years. Jobs’ pioneering vision also helped create Pixar.
David Filo
Company: Yahoo!
Home: Palo Alto
Filo co-created the Yahoo! Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with Jerry Yang and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April 1995. The venture has minted Filo billions, and Forbes lists him as one of the country’s wealthiest individuals. Today, Filo serves as a key technologist at Yahoo!, directing the technical operations behind the company’s global network of Web properties. He is credited with helping build Yahoo! into one of the Internet’s most recognized brands.
Haute Design
January 2, 2009Raise Your Grasses: The California Academy of Sciences
