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This is a list of companies founded by Stanford University alumni. This list is not exhaustive, as it only includes notable companies of which the founding and development history is well recorded by reliable sources. In particular, subsidiaries are listed with their owners in parentheses.
Stanford University is one of the most successful universities in creating companies, attracting funding, and licensing its inventions to existing companies.[1][2][3][4] It is often held up as a model for technology transfer.[5][6] Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing is responsible for commercializing developments.[7] The university is described as having a strong venture culture in which students are encouraged, and often funded, to launch their own companies.[8]
According to PitchBook, from 2006 to 2017, Stanford produced 1,127 company founders as alumni or current students, more than any other university in the world; and these founders created 957 companies, second only to UC Berkeley in the world.[9][10] In addition, according to a Stanford alumni survey conducted in 2011, some 39,900 companies founded by Stanford alumni were active, and companies founded by Stanford alumni altogether generated more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue and had created 5.4 million jobs, roughly equivalent to the 10th-largest economy in the world (2011).[11][12][13]
In this list, founders of a company which merged with other companies to form a new company are counted as founders of the new company. However, founders of a company which later dissolved into several successor companies are not counted as founders of those successor companies; this same rule applies to spin-off companies. Finally, a defunct company is a company that stopped functioning completely (e.g., bankrupt) without dissolving, merging or being acquired.
This list shows companies in Fortune Global 500 founded or co-founded by Stanford alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune Global 500 companies was $21,609M in 2016.[14]
Company | Region | Fortune Global 500
(2017)[14] |
Revenue in US$ millions
(2016)[14] |
Type | Category | Year founded | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alphabet Inc. | United States | 65 | 90,272 | Public | Conglomerate | 2015 | [Note 1] |
2 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | United States | 187 | 49,247 | Public | Hardware | 1984 | |
3 | HP Inc. | United States | 194 | 48,238 | Public | Technology | 1939 | |
4 | Nike | United States | 331 | 32,376 | Public | Athletic equipment | 1964 | |
5 | TSMC | Taiwan | 369 | 29,388 | Public | Semiconductor | 1987 | |
6 | Capital One | United States | 395 | 27,519 | Public | Finance | 1988 |
This list shows companies in Fortune 1000 (only for companies within the U.S.) founded or co-founded by Stanford alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune 1000 companies was $1,791M in 2016.[15]
Company | Fortune 1000
(2017)[15] |
Revenue in millions
(2016)[15] |
Type | Category | Year founded | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alphabet Inc. | 27 | 90,272 | Public | Conglomerate | 2015 | |
2 | HP Inc. | 61 | 48,238 | Public | Technology | 1939 | |
3 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | 60 | 49,247 | Public | Hardware | 1984 | |
4 | Nike | 88 | 32,376 | Public | Athletic equipment | 1964 | |
5 | Capital One | 100 | 27,519 | Public | Finance | 1988 | |
6 | Gap Inc. | 178 | 15,516 | Public | Clothing/accessories | 1969 | |
– | Trader Joe's* | 208 | 13,300 | Private | Grocery | 1958 | † Equivalently[16] |
7 | Micron Technology | 226 | 12,399 | Public | Semiconductor | 1978 | |
8 | PayPal** | 264 | 10,842 | Public | Financial services | 1998 (Confinity)
1999 (X.com) |
|
9 | Netflix | 314 | 8,831 | Public | Entertainment | 1997 | |
10 | Expedia | 317 | 8,774 | Public | Travel | 1996 | |
11 | Charles Schwab Corporation | 357 | 7,644 | Public | Finance | 1971 | |
12 | Nvidia | 387 | 6,910 | Public | Technology | 1993 | |
13 | NetApp | 468 | 5,546 | Public | Technology | 1992 | |
14 | Yahoo!*** | 498 | 5,169 | Acquired | Technology | 1994 | |
15 | Intuit | 527 | 4,831 | Public | Software | 1983 | |
16 | Electronic Arts | 556 | 4,396 | Public | Video game | 1982 | |
17 | Akamai Technologies | 851 | 2,340 | Public | Internet/technology | 1998 | |
– | Bain & Company**** | 864 | 2,300 | Partnership | Consulting | 1973 | † Equivalently[16] |
18 | Cypress Semiconductor | 959 | 1,923 | Public | Semiconductor | 1982 | |
*: Trader Joe's does not reveal its annual revenue. Its revenue is estimated by Supermarket News.
**: Merger of different companies, at least one of which was founded by Stanford alumni.
***: Yahoo! was acquired by Verizon in 2017 and is no longer an independent company.[17] However, it is still listed in Fortune 1000 by Fortune for 2017.
****: Bain & Company are not listed in Fortune 1000. Its revenue is provided by Forbes.
For each company, only the latest rankings (up to three years) are shown in this list.
Company | Fortune Global 500 | Fortune 1000 | Type | Category | Year founded | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 162 (2014) | 189 (2013) | 277 (2012)[18] | 46 (2014) | 55 (2013) | 73 (2012)[19] | Subsidiary | Technology | 1998 | |
2 | Sun Microsystems | - | - | - | 204 (2010) | 187 (2009) | 184 (2008)[20] | Acquired | Technology | 1982 |
3 | Atari | - | - | - | 400 (1989) | 483 (1988)[21] | - | Acquired | Video game | 1972 |
4 | Silicon Graphics | - | - | - | 876 (2003) | 738 (2002) | 625 (2001)[22] | Defunct | Technology | 1981 |
5 | - | - | - | 945 (2015)[23] | - | - | Acquired | Social media | 2002 | |
6 | Fairchild Semiconductor | - | - | - | 984 (2008) | 963 (2007) | 886 (2005)[24] | Acquired | Semiconductor | 1957 |
This index also contains companies listed in section "Notable defunct & dissolved".
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Stanford |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Draper Laboratory | Non-profit | Defense & security | 1932 | 1[25] |
| |
Fairchild Semiconductor | (NASDAQ: ON) | Semiconductor | 1957 | 8[26] |
| |
HP Inc./Hewlett-Packard | Public | NYSE: HPQ | Technology | 1939 | 2[28] |
|
Trader Joe's | Private | Grocery | 1958 | 1[31] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Stanford |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atari | (EPA: ATA) | Video game | 1972 | 2[33][34] |
| |
Bain & Company | Partnership | Consulting | 1973 | Unknown |
| |
Charles Schwab Corporation | Public | NYSE: SCHW | Finance | 1971 | 1[37] |
|
Dolby Laboratories | Public | NYSE: DLB | Audio electronics | 1965 | 1[38] | |
Gap Inc. | Public | NYSE: GPS | Clothing/accessories | 1969 | 2[39] |
|
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers | Private | Finance | 1972 | 4[citation needed] |
| |
Micron Technology | Public | NASDAQ: MU | Semiconductor | 1978 | 4[42] |
|
Nike | Public | NYSE: NKE | Athletic equipment | 1964 | 2[44] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Stanford |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akamai Technologies | Public | NASDAQ: AKAM | Internet/technology | 1998 | 4[46] |
|
Alta Partners | Private | Venture capital | 1996 | 4[48] |
| |
Bain Capital | Private | Investment management | 1984 | 3[50] |
| |
Capital One | Public | NYSE: COF | Finance | 1988 | 2[53][54] |
|
Cisco Systems, Inc. | Public | NASDAQ: CSCO | Hardware | 1984 | 2[56][57] |
|
Confinity & X.com (now PayPal) | Public (merged) | NASDAQ: PYPL | Financial services | 1998 (Confinity)
1999 (X.com) |
5[58] |
|
Cycorp | Private | Artificial intelligence | 1994 | 1[62] |
| |
Cypress Semiconductor | Public | NASDAQ: CY | Semiconductor | 1982 | 1[64] |
|
D. E. Shaw & Co. | Private | Finance | 1988 | 1[65] |
| |
Electronic Arts | Public | NASDAQ: EA | Video game | 1982 | 1[66] |
|
Expedia | Public | NASDAQ: EXPE | Travel | 1996 | 1[68][69] |
|
Extreme Networks | Public | NASDAQ: EXTR | Networking/technology | 1996 | 3[70] |
|
Farallon Capital | Private | Investment management | 1986 | 1[72] |
| |
(NASDAQ: GOOGL) | Technology | 1998 | 2[74] |
| ||
Hellman & Friedman | Private | Private equity | 1984 | 2[77] |
| |
IDEO | Private | Design | 1991 | 3[79] |
| |
Immersion | Public | NASDAQ: IMMR | Virtual reality / haptics | 1993 |
| |
Intuit | Public | NASDAQ: INTU | Software | 1983 | 2[82] |
|
iRobot | Public | NASDAQ: IRBT | Technology | 1990 | 3[84] |
|
Lattice Semiconductor | Public | NASDAQ: LSCC | Semiconductor | 1983 | 3[86] |
|
Logitech | Public | NASDAQ: LOGI | Technology | 1981 | 3[88] |
|
NetApp | Public | NASDAQ: NTAP | Technology | 1992 | 2[91][92] |
|
Netflix | Public | NASDAQ: NFLX | Entertainment | 1997 | 2[94][95] |
|
Nvidia | Public | NASDAQ: NVDA | Technology | 1993 | 3[97] |
|
Pixar | (NYSE: DIS) | Computer animation | 1986 | 2[99] |
| |
SparkNotes | (NYSE: BKS) | Publisher | 1999 | 4[101][102] | ||
Spectrum Astro | Private | Space | 1988 |
| ||
Sun Microsystems | (NYSE: ORCL) | Technology | 1982 | 4[104] |
| |
TSMC | Public | NYSE: TSM | Semiconductor | 1987 | 1[108] |
|
Viking Global Investors | Private | Hedge fund | 1999 | 1[109] |
| |
VMware | Public | NYSE: VMW | Technology | 1998 | 5[111][112] | |
WebEx | (NASDAQ: CSCO) | Telecom | 1995 | 2[114] | ||
Yahoo! | (NYSE: VZ) | Web service | 1994 | 2[116] |
|
Company | Type | Stock | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Stanford |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alphabet, Inc. | Public | NASDAQ: GOOGL | Conglomerate | 2015 | 2[119] |
|
Bonobos | (NYSE: WMT) | Apparel retail | 2007 | 2[120] | ||
Clarium Capital | Private | Finance | 2002 | 2[citation needed] |
| |
Cloudera | Public | NYSE: CLDR | Software | 2008 | 4[123] |
|
Coursera | Public | NYSE: COUR | Technology/education | 2012 | 2[125] |
|
Coverity | (NASDQ: SNPS) | Security/technology | 2002 | 3[citation needed] | ||
Draper James | Private | Clothing | 2015 | 1[129] |
| |
Eye-Fi | Private | Computer hardware | 2005 | 4[citation needed] |
| |
Founders Fund | Private | Finance | 2005 | 3[citation needed] |
| |
Freelancer | (ASX:FLN) | Crowdsourcing | 2009 | 1[citation needed] |
| |
Ginkgo Bioworks | Private | Biotechnology | 2009 | 5[133] |
| |
Glassdoor | Private | Online review | 2007 | 3[135][136] |
| |
(NASDAQ: FB) | Social media | 2010 | 2[citation needed] |
| ||
(NASDAQ: MSFT) | Social media | 2002 | 5[139] | |||
Loopt | Private | Mobile services | 2005 | 3[citation needed] |
| |
Palantir Technologies | Private | Technology | 2004 | 5[147][148] |
| |
Obihai Technology | (NASDAQ: PLCM) | Communication | 2010 | 2[152] |
| |
OkCupid | (NASDAQ: IAC) | Dating service | 2001[154] | 4[155] | ||
Omaze | Private | Fundraising | 2012 | 2[157][158] | ||
OpenAI | Non-profit | Technology | 2015 | 2[citation needed] |
| |
Pandora Radio | Public | NYSE: P | Music streaming | 2000 | 3[161] |
|
Redfin | Public | NASDAQ: RDFN | Real estate | 2004 | 3[164] |
|
Robinhood | Private | Financial services | 2013 | 2[166] | ||
Sapphire Ventures | Private | Venture capital | 2011 | 1[170] |
| |
Snapchat | Public | NYSE: SNAP | Social/technology | 2011 | 3[171][172] |
|
SpaceX | Private | Aerospace/technology | 2002 | 1[176] | ||
Stitch Fix | Public | NASDAQ: SFIX | Retail/styling | 2011 | 2[177] |
|
StubHub | (NASDAQ: EBAY) | Ticket exchange | 2000 | 2[178] |
| |
Sunrun | Public | NASDAQ: RUN | Solar energy | 2007 | 3[181] |
|
TechCrunch | (Oath Inc.) | Online publisher | 2005 | 1[184] |
| |
Tesla, Inc. | Public | NASDAQ: TSLA | Automotive | 2004 | 5[186] |
|
The Boring Company | Private | Technology | 2016 | 1[citation needed] | ||
Trulia | (NASDAQ: Z) | Real estate database | 2004 | 2[188] |
| |
Two Sigma | Private | Finance | 2001 | 3[191] |
| |
(NASDAQ: FB) | Social media | 2009 |
| |||
Workday, Inc. | Public | NASDAQ: WDAY | Software | 2005 | 2[193] |
|
DeepVu | Private | Autonomous supply chains | 2016 | 2[citation needed] |
| |
Yammer | Private | Social networking | 2008 | 3[citation needed] |
| |
Youku
—> Youku Tudou |
—> (NYSE: BABA) (merged) | Online video | 2006 (Youku) | 1 (Youku)[196] |
| |
YouTube | (NASDAQ: GOOGL) | Video hosting services | 2005 | 3[198] |
| |
Zillow | Public | NASDAQ: Z | Real estate database | 2006 | 2[citation needed] |
|
MX Player | Private | Online video | 2017 | 2 |
|
Company | Type | Category | Year founded | Total founders | Founder/co-founder from Stanford |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3DO | Bankrupt | Video game | 1991 | 1[201] |
|
Silicon Graphics | Bankrupt | Technology | 1981 | Unknown[202] |
|
Theranos | Defunct | Technology | 2003 | 1 |
|
Varian Associates | Defunct | Technology | 1948 | 4[203] |
|
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