Michael Moritz’s departure from Sequoia Capital took effect on July 19, 2023, ending nearly 38 years with the venture firm. He planned to deepen his advisory relationship with Sequoia Heritage, while continuing for a time to represent Sequoia at a handful of portfolio companies as board seats were transitioned over time.
What Sequoia announced on July 19, 2023
In an investor letter reproduced by TechCrunch on July 19, 2023, Sequoia Capital managing partner Roelof Botha said Moritz would leave the partnership effective that day, after nearly 38 years. Botha wrote: “We are writing to inform you that Michael Moritz will leave Sequoia Capital after nearly 38 years with the Partnership, effective July 19, 2023.”
The letter credited Moritz with leadership and representing Sequoia at companies. It also said he intended to deepen his relationship with Sequoia Heritage: “Michael intends to deepen his advisory relationship with Sequoia Heritage, an independent business where he has been a founding limited partner and Board member since 2010.”
What Moritz planned to do next
Sequoia Heritage is described in Botha’s letter as an independent business. Moritz had been one of its founding limited partners and a board member since 2010, and his announced next step was to deepen his advisory relationship there. This was distinct from remaining a partner at Sequoia Capital: the letter said his departure from that partnership was effective immediately.
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Why this was a formal departure, not his first step back
Moritz had already stepped away from active management more than a decade earlier. TechCrunch’s July 19, 2023 report dates that move to 2012. The distinction is between an earlier change in his day-to-day role and the 2023 end of his formal tenure at Sequoia Capital.
The same report said Moritz told investors in 2012 that he had a rare, incurable medical condition. The 2023 investor letter, as reproduced in the report, presented his deeper Sequoia Heritage advisory relationship as his next step; it does not establish that his health caused the 2023 departure.
What the announcement said about his board seats
Moritz was expected to continue representing Sequoia’s interests at a handful of companies after leaving the partnership. Botha’s letter said Sequoia would work with portfolio companies to transition those seats over time.
That language describes an intention and a process, not a completed handover. The July 2023 announcement does not establish when any particular seat changed hands or who later took it.
Sequoia’s longer history
Sequoia’s official history dates the firm’s founding to 1972, when Don Valentine established it. The firm says its first fund was $3 million and backed Apple and Atari. That background places Moritz’s nearly 38-year tenure within a firm with a longer history, but it does not add details about his departure beyond those in Botha’s letter.
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