Scott Mills Sipprelle is a

venture capitalist Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

and was the 2010 Republican candidate for Congress in . Sipprelle founded Westland Ventures, a

Jackson, Wyoming Jackson is a resort town in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 10,760 at the 2020 census, up from 9,577 in 2010. It is Teton County's only incorporated municipality and county seat, and it is the largest incorporated town ...

-based investment firm, which helps emerging companies by providing growth capital.

Early life and education

Scott Sipprelle was born in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, where his father was a high school history teacher. Later, his parents joined the

US Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

and Scott spent much of his childhood living abroad, primarily in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, Europe, and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Sipprelle graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

in 1985 with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Economics along with a minor in government. He was the recipient of the Clark Prize in Public Speaking.

Business career

In 2007 Sipprelle founded the investment firm, Westland Ventures. Westland Ventures provides growth capital for emerging companies. Westland Ventures has invested in many young companies, including Voxnest, Narragansett Brewing, and The Bank of Princeton. Sipprelle has served as Chairman of the Advisory Board for The Bank of Princeton. Previously, Sipprelle was a senior executive in the financial services industry. From 1985 to 1998 Sipprelle worked for

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

, where, at 32, he became a managing director. He later managed the firm's Equity Capital Markets Division, where he was responsible for managing the initial public offering process for many companies, including the landmark IPO of Netscape in 1994. In 1998, Sipprelle left Morgan Stanley to launch the investment firm Midtown Research, which subsequently became Copper Arch Capital. Sipprelle's firm gained notoriety for instigating a shareholder revolt against cronyism and mismanagement at Morgan Stanley that eventually toppled the CEO, Phil Purcell. After a decade of managing capital for endowments and foundations, Sipprelle closed his fund in November 2007, a few months before the global stock markets collapsed.

Political career

Sipprelle first became interested in politics when, as a college student, he served as an intern for California Senator Pete Wilson. On the night of January 13, 2010, Sipprelle announced his intention of running for New Jersey's 12th District Congressional seat. Sipprelle promised to focus on "common-sense solutions" and to take back Washington from the career politicians. This was Sipprelle's first run for political office, and in a statement he said, "I'm not running for Congress simply to be competitive or put up a good fight." In a vow to be an independent voice on Capitol Hill Sipprelle said, "Frankly, any Congressman — of either party — who votes with his party boss 98 or 99 percent of the time is just a cog in the partisan machine that is tearing this country apart. He is not exercising wisdom, principle or good judgment, or putting his country first. You deserve better." Sipprelle was criticized later in January for his contribution to the congressional campaigns of Blue Dog Democrats Allen Boyd of Florida,

Charlie Melancon Charlie may refer to: Film and television * ''Charlie'' (2015 Malayalam film), an Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Charlie'' (2015 Kannada film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Charlie'' (TV series), a 2015 political drama series based ...

of Louisiana,

Heath Shuler Joseph Heath Shuler (born December 31, 1971) is an American former politician and professional football quarterback who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. The district covers the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Caro ...

of North Carolina, Baron Hill of Indiana, and

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin Stephanie Marie Herseth Sandlin (born December 3, 1970) is an American attorney, university administrator, and politician from the Democratic Party. She represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2004 until 2011. Sandlin wa ...

of South Dakota. On the night of June 8,

Primary Election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

Day, Sipprelle won the Republican Primary over challenger David Corsi by a margin of 54-46. On November 2, 2010, six-term incumbent Rush Holt defeated Scott Sipprelle 53%-46%, with independent Kenneth J. Cody receiving 1%.

Personal life

Sipprelle married his college sweetheart, Tracy. They are the parents of three children Jessica, David, and Stephen. Sipprelle and his family live in

, United States. In September 2009 Sipprelle published his first novel, ''The Golden Dog'', a mystery set on Wall Street.

References

External links

*
Campaign contributions
at OpenSecrets.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Sipprelle, Scott M Living people Writers from Princeton, New Jersey New Jersey Republicans Philanthropists from New York (state) 1963 births American financial businesspeople 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Hamilton College (New York) alumni 21st-century American male writers St. Andrew's School (Delaware) alumni