Chamath Palihapitiya Net Worth: Facebook & Bitcoin Wealth
Mike Harry
Feb 2024
6 min
Fact checked
Chamath Palihapitiya, the Silicon Valley titan who rose to fame as an early Facebook executive, has amassed an incredible net worth that has skyrocketed into the billions. From his days as a professional poker player to his current role as a venture capitalist, Palihapitiya's journey is one that will inspire and captivate you!
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Who Is Chamath Palihapitiya?
Chamath Palihapitiya is a prominent venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and former Facebook executive. Born in Sri Lanka in 1976, his family immigrated to Canada when he was a child. He grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, where he later attended the University of Waterloo earning a degree in Electrical Engineering.
In 2007, Palihapitiya joined Facebook where he served as the Vice President for user growth and mobile. He played a key role in driving the platform's user base expansion and his tenure at Facebook proved pivotal for his career.
Chamath Palihapitiya at TechCrunch
After leaving Facebook in 2011, Palihapitiya founded The Social Capital partnership, later known as Social Capital. This is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. The firm focused on advancing technology in healthcare, education, and financial services and has invested in successful startups like Slack and Box.
Palihapitiya is also known for his investments in companies via special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), which are a way for companies to go public without going through the traditional IPO process.
Chamath Palihapitiya at SOHN conference
Through his firm, he has taken several companies public via SPACs, including Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company founded by Richard Branson.
What is Chamath Palihapitiya known for?
In addition to his investment activities, Palihapitiya has held various positions in other organizations.
He was a minority stakeholder and board member of the Golden State Warriors, an NBA team. He also served as the Chairman of Virgin Galactic following its merger with his SPAC.
Palihapitiya is a vocal advocate for the democratization of investment and has been outspoken on various social and economic issues, including wealth inequality and climate change.
He is also known for his bullish stance on Bitcoin and has often spoken about the potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Palihapitiya sees Bitcoin as a 'hedge against the traditional financial infrastructure'.
However, what Palihapitiya is less famous for is his work in the field of education.
In 2013, he co-founded a non-profit organization called Social Capital Education Partners, which aims to improve education outcomes for underserved communities in the United States.
How did Chamath Palihapitiya get rich?
Chamath made his money primarily through his investments in technology companies.
He started his career as an engineer at AOL before moving on to become a member of the founding team at Facebook, where he served as the vice president of user growth and mobile. It is estimated that Chamath made 100s of millions when selling his Facebook stock.
After leaving Facebook, Palihapitiya founded the venture capital firm Social Capital, which invested in a number of successful companies such as Slack, Box, and SurveyMonkey.
In addition to his investments in technology companies, Palihapitiya has also made money through his involvement in the NBA's Golden State Warriors and the English Premier League soccer team Crystal Palace.
And finally, in a December 2017 interview with CNBC, he stated that that he owned 5% of the entire Bitcoin supply which, given the cap of 21 million Bitcoins, would equate to around 1.05 million Bitcoins. However, it's unclear if he was referring to personal holdings or those held by his company or investment partners.
What is Chamath Palihapitiya net worth?
As of 2021, Chamath Palihapitiya's estimated net worth is around $1-2 billion. It is estimated that Chamath has generated the majority of his wealth by selling his Facebook stock and buying Bitcoin as early as 2013.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
