Thomas Jefferson Davis Jr. (1912–1989) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early

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 ...

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 founder of the

Mayfield Fund Mayfield, also known as Mayfield Fund, is a US-based venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage to growth-stage investments in enterprise and consumer technology companies. Founded in 1969 and based in Menlo Park, California. History The ...

Early life

He was born in 1912 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Davis earned his A.B. and J.D. degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

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. 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. He managed its investment in four new companies including

Watkins-Johnson Company Watkins-Johnson Company was a designer and manufacturer of electronic devices, systems, and equipment. The company, commonly referred to as "W-J", was formed in 1957 by Dean A. Watkins and H. Richard Johnson, and was headquartered in Palo Alto, Ca ...

, which investment of $900,000 was sold in 1968 and 1973 by

Tenneco Tenneco, Inc. (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a ''F ...

, successor to Kern, for over $80 million. With

Arthur Rock Arthur Rock (born August 19, 1926) is an American businessman and investor. Based in Silicon Valley, California, he was an early investor in major firms including Intel, Apple Inc., Apple, Scientific Data Systems and Teledyne Technologies, Teled ...

, he formed the Davis and Rock partnership in 1961, which made many hugely successful investments including

Teledyne Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an American industrial conglomerate. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc. by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky. From August 1996 to November 1999, Teledyne existed as part of the conglomerate Al ...

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

. With Wally Davis and

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 ...

, he formed in 1969 another partnership,

, 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 Woodside is a incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It has a council–manager system of government. The population of the town was 5,309 at the 2020 census. The town's population ha ...

. 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 Homosassa () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,299 at the 2020 census, down from 2,578 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Homosassa Springs, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...

Awards

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Thomas J. 1912 births 1989 deaths American computer businesspeople American investors Businesspeople from Cincinnati Harvard Law School alumni Private equity and venture capital investors 20th-century American businesspeople

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards

Further reading

References