Thomas Jefferson Davis Jr.
Born1912
Cincinnati, Ohio
Died1989
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationFounder of Mayfield Fund
SpouseShirley Ross
Children6
AwardsEY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Northern California Region (1987)

Thomas Jefferson Davis Jr. (1912–1989) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early Silicon Valley venture capitalist and founder of the Mayfield Fund.

Early life

He was born in 1912 in Cincinnati, Davis earned his A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University and served in World War II on the War Production Board, the Lend-Lease Administration and in the Office of Strategic Services as an Army captain.[1] He was often behind Japanese lines, as detailed in his 223-page privately published book One Man's War.

Career

Davis was the Vice President of Kern County Land Company from 1957 to 1961.[2] He managed its investment in four new companies including Watkins-Johnson Company, which investment of $900,000 was sold in 1968 and 1973 by Tenneco, successor to Kern, for over $80 million.

With Arthur Rock, he formed the Davis and Rock partnership in 1961, which made many hugely successful investments including Teledyne, Apple Computer and Intel.[3] With Wally Davis and Stanford University, he formed in 1969 another partnership, Mayfield Fund, which also brought great returns not only to its limited partners, but also to Stanford. This fund helped start more than 125 companies in high-technology fields.

He died in 1989 before the book was compiled by Jeff McNish and published.

Personal life

He lived in Woodside, California. He was married to the former Shirley Ross. Tommy had six daughters and 11 grandchildren. He also had a sister, Virginia Loomis of Oyster Bay and a brother, Laurence, of Homosassa, Florida.[4]

Awards

In 1987, Davis was an Award Recipient for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Northern California Region.

Further reading

  • Portraits of Success, Carolyn Caddes, Tioga Publishing, Palo Alto, CA, 1986; ISBN 0-935382-56-9
  • One Man's War—A Boston Lawyer on the Jungle Trails of Burma, Thomas J. Davis Jr., privately published, copyright 1989, ASIN/ISBN B0007C3GQQ, pages 96–97

References

  1. ↑ "Thomas J. Davis, 77, Investment Executive". The New York Times. 13 September 1990.
  2. ↑ "Thomas Davis; High-Tech Investor". Los Angeles Times. September 17, 1990. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  3. ↑ Fishburne, Rodes; Malone, Michael S. (May 29, 2000). "Founding Funders". Forbes. Retrieved January 17, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Thomas J. Davis, 77, Investment Executive". The New York Times. 13 September 1990.
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