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Steven Paul Westly (born August 27, 1956) is an American
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 ...
, entrepreneur, educator, and politician. He was the State Controller of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic primary for
Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...
in the 2006 election. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by
California State Treasurer The state treasurer of California is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the Government of California, government of the U.S. state of California. 34 individuals have held the office of state treasurer since statehood. The incumb ...
Phil Angelides Phillip Nicholas Angelides ( ; born June 12, 1953) is an American politician who served as the California State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Angelides was the party's nominee for ...
br>by 4%
who later lost to Republican
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
in the November 2006 elections. During the 2008 Presidential Election, Westly served as California Campaign Co-chair for Obama for America and also as a member of Obama for America's National Finance Committee. Westly was briefly considered for a cabinet-level position in the Obama administration. Currently, Westly is a Managing Partner at The Westly Group, a
clean technology Clean technology, also called cleantech or climate tech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant Efficient energy use, energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, o ...
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
firm which he founded in 2007. The company has successfully raised five venture capital funds and has $800 million in Assets Under Management (AUM). The company has 30 of the world's largest strategic companies companies as investors including Duke Energy, VW/Audi, State Farm, Bridgestone, ABB, and American Electric Power. The Westly Group has had nine portfolio companies go public including four multi-billion dollar exits at Tesla Motors, Procore, Luminar, and Sentinel One. The company has offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Westly is also a frequent commentator on CNBC, Bloomberg, Schwab Network, and other outlets. He has done over 70 interviews on live national television on Tesla, the future of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, new battery technologies, and the rise of the Chinese auto industry.


Education and family

Westly was born in
Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...
. Raised in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
, Westly received an A.B. in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
from
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
in 1978, where he served as student body co-president. He received an M.B.A. from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 1983. A member of the Democratic Party, Westly worked for Congressman Leo Ryan in 1978 as his first job out of college. Later that year, after Ryan's death on foreign soil at the hands of the Peoples Temple cult, he worked in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Solar and Conservation under President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
until 1980. After working in the Carter Administration, he joined the
California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition ...
as Special Assistant to CPUC President John Bryson. While at CPUC, Westly had two books published on renewable energy and the future of the utility industry.


Family

He married Anita Yu (Chinese: 余慧雯), an immigrant from
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, in 1997. They have a daughter, Christina, and a son, Matthew. His brother, Dean Westly, practices law in the
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
region of
Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
.


Business

Steve Westly is the founding partner of the Westly Group, one of the largest venture funds in North America focused on smart energy, mobility, and buildings
The Westly Group
has 22 of the world's largest energy, water, and transportation companies as investors, and has had nine IPO's including Tesla Motors where Westly served on the Board. The Westly Group has had three companies go public over $8B valuations in 2021 ( SentinelOne at $13; Procore at $12.4B; and Luminar at $8.2B). The Westly Group has $750M under management and raised its fourth venture fund in December 2021. In 1983, Westly became the New Business Manager at Sprint Telecommunications. In 1986, he became an investment banker at Valentine and Company (later called Bridgemere Capital) in San Francisco. In 1988, Westly became President of Codd & Date, a leading relational database consulting & services firm. In 1991, Westly became the Deputy Director of the City of San Jose Office of Economic Development and began teaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he taught for five years from 1991 to 1995. In 1994, he became the Director of Netcom, one of the early large internet service providers and in 1995, became Vice President of WhoWhere?, then the largest Internet directory. In 1997, Westly joined
eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
as one of its early executives. He began as Vice President and subsequently gained the title of Senior Vice President for Marketing, Business Development, and International. He retired from eBay in 2000 when he and his wife, Anita Yu, established the Westly Foundation. In February 2007, Westly joined the board of
Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from hom ...
, a pioneering northern California manufacturer of electric cars. He is now a Managing Partner and founder of The Westly Group, one of the larger venture funds in the US focusing on smart energy, mobility, and buildings. The Westly Group has had nine companies go public on NASDAQ including Tesla Motors.   Steve Westly also served as a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business from 1991–1995. He returned to teach a new course at Stanford Business School called "The Policy, Politics, and Finance for Solving Global Warming" 2020 to 2024 and continues to teach there today.


Political career

In addition to his professional career, Westly has maintained a concurrent career in the Democratic Party. At age 23 in 1981, he was elected as Northern Treasurer of the California Democratic Party, the youngest party officer ever. He was subsequently elected State Controller of the California Democratic Party in 1983, Northern Chair of the California Democratic Party in 1985, and Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party in 1987. In 1989, he was defeated as State Chair of the California Democratic Party by
Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...
. Despite that loss, Westly continued his activism within the party by being elected to the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
in 1988, as the highest vote getter, and was reelected in 1992, 1996, and 2000. Westly ran for California State Controller in
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
against
State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
Tom McClintock and won by a margin of 22,730 votes (out of 7,258,758 votes cast). Westly garnered 3,289,839 (45.4%) votes while McClintock won the support of 3,273,028 (45.1%) people. Three other candidates won 695,891 (9.5%) votes.


California State Controller

As Controller, Westly opposed Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
's plan to change Proposition 98, which requires a certain amount of the state's budget to go towards funding public education and community colleges, and in 2005, he created a tax amnesty plan that allowed individuals and corporations who owed back taxes to prevent facing criminal charges and increased penalties if they would immediately pay their back taxes. Westly's plan brought in a gross amount of $4 billion in revenue for the State of California. The state's non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office states that after refunds and advance payments the net profit of the tax amnesty plan was $380 million. Westly also introduced the ReadyReturn plan to simplify tax preparation by offering to send taxpayers a prefilled form from the state, and allowing them to sign and automatically file their tax refund in a pilot program started in 2005. Westly is also in favor of enforcing current laws requiring Californians to pay sales tax on Internet purchases.


2006 gubernatorial election

On June 19, 2005, Westly announced his candidacy for California governor. Despite entering the race long after his primary opponent,
California State Treasurer The state treasurer of California is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the Government of California, government of the U.S. state of California. 34 individuals have held the office of state treasurer since statehood. The incumb ...
Phil Angelides Phillip Nicholas Angelides ( ; born June 12, 1953) is an American politician who served as the California State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Angelides was the party's nominee for ...
, Westly's campaign picked up considerable momentum, receiving endorsements from such figures as Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, Congressmembers Grace Napolitano,
Diane Watson Diane Edith Watson (born November 12, 1933) is a former American politician who served as United States House of Representatives, US Representative for , serving from 2003 until 2011, after first being elected in the 32nd District in a 2001 speci ...
, and Brad Sherman, State Senators Carole Migden, Martha Escutia, and Nell Soto, County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, Assembly Members
Judy Chu Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. ...
, Ted Lieu, Rudy Bermudez, and Nicole Parra, former Assembly Speaker and current Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson, the majority of the Los Angeles City Council, and other elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels. Westly also gained the support of 85% of the major newspapers that endorsed in the race, including the
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
,
San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
,
Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...
,
LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
,
Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a three-times a week newspaper serving Fresno, California, and surrounding counties in that U.S. state's central San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company's ...
, and many others. Several organizations also endorsed Westly, such as the California
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...
, California Police Chiefs Association, California NOW, and the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association. In the months leading up to the election, Westly overcame an early Angelides advantage and gained the edge in various polls, leading by as much as 13 points. Moreover, unlike Angelides, he consistently beat Governor Schwarzenegger in hypothetical general election matchups. Despite Westly's momentum and resources, the California Democratic Party endorsed Angelides at the State Democratic Party Convention. The race turned negative, highlighting environmental controversies surrounding Angelides' background as a real estate developer and Westly's broken pledge to keep his campaign clean. Westly's candidacy also was hurt by an unprecedented multi-million dollar independent expenditure by Sacramento real estate developer and longtime Angelides patron Angelo Tsakopoulos. As election day neared, Westly's momentum dissipated and the race tightened. A Field Poll held on June 2, 2006 had Westly leading Angelides by one percentage point, 35% to 34% with 26% undecided and an error size of +/- 4.5 points. The high number of undecided voters led to the lowest turnout in a California primary election in over half a century. Despite over $80 million spent on the race, including over $35 million of Westly's personal fortune, only 30.8% of California Democrats came out to vote, the lowest number in recent history. Angelides finished on election night with 48% of the vote compared to Westly's 44%. Westly endorsed Angelides' candidacy at a unity breakfast the morning after election night. Angelides' Republican opponent,
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
, has since used quotes from Westly's campaign to attack Angelides. Westly, who endorsed Angelides after the primary, countered, "Governor Schwarzenegger has shown great interest in what Steve Westly has to say about 2006. He is right here to tell you that we all need to vote for the Democratic candidate Phil Angelides in November 2006."
Phil Angelides Phillip Nicholas Angelides ( ; born June 12, 1953) is an American politician who served as the California State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Angelides was the party's nominee for ...
was defeated in a landslide by Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
during the general election held on November 7, 2006 .


Later career

After the election of President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in November 2008, it was rumored that Westly was being considered for appointment as
Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when P ...
, though Dr.
Steven Chu Steven ChuJerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...
won the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican Meg Whitman (also a former eBay executive) in November 2010. Westly supported Brown for governor and hosted a Brown fundraiser in October 2010. He was rumored to run again for
Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...
in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
, however he did not file to run before the primary. Westly returned to teach a new course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business called “The Technology, Politics, and Finance for Solving Global Warming” in the Spring of 2020 and continues to teach there today. Mr. Westly is also a frequent guest on CNBC and other business outlets discussing Tesla Motors and the future of Electric and Autonomous Vehicles. Mr. Westly has also had over 60 articles and op-eds printed in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, San Diego Union-Tribune, and other outlets throughout the country.


References


External links

*
The Westly GroupThe Westly Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westly, Steve 1956 births Businesspeople from California California Democrats American chief financial officers Living people People from the San Francisco Bay Area Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni California state controllers United States Department of Energy officials