Gideon Yu
Born (1971-05-14) May 14, 1971
Seoul, South Korea
EducationUniversity School of Nashville
Stanford University (BS)
Harvard Business School (MBA)
Occupation(s)Co-owner and Former President of the San Francisco 49ers
SpouseSusie Yu (korean:민혜정)
ChildrenJonathan and Emily

Gideon Lee Yu (born May 14, 1971)[1] is a Korean-American technology, media and sports investor, executive and advisor.

Yu is currently a co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team. He was previously the team president.[2] In 2012, Yu became the first president of color in the history of the National Football League.[3] Prior to his career in professional sports management, Yu was a high-technology executive, most notably as the chief financial officer of both Facebook[4] and YouTube[5] as well as the senior vice president and treasurer of Yahoo.[6]

Career

Yu graduated from the University School of Nashville in 1989, where he was student body president and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011.[7] He then attended Stanford University, majoring in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1989, he received the First Place Grand Award in Environmental Science at the 40th International Science and Engineering Fair.[8]

In his time with the 49ers, Yu led the team's efforts in financing Levi's Stadium, including securing an $850 million stadium construction loan, the largest ever in professional sports, a $200 million financing package from the NFL and the largest long-term stadium financing in NFL history. Yu also directed the 49ers drive to accelerate the opening date of Levi's Stadium from the 2015 to 2014 season.[9] Perhaps the most notable distinction during Yu's tenure at the San Francisco 49ers, however, is that he is the first president of color of any team in the history of the National Football League. He currently resides in Los Angeles.[3]

Prior to joining the San Francisco 49ers football team, Yu was a General Partner at Khosla Ventures,[10] where he led the firm's investment in Square and was the founding outside board member (Yu's board seat was later transferred to Vinod Khosla).[11]

Previously, Yu was the chief financial officer of Facebook.[12] Upon Yu's hiring, Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, speaking with the Wall Street Journal, said: "I consider it kind of a coup that we were able to recruit him here.”[13] Yu led the $375 million investment round[14] from Microsoft and Hong-Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing[15] at a then record $15 billion valuation. Zuckerberg further noted to the Wall Street Journal about Yu, “He's just excellent.”[13]

Before Facebook, Yu was a partner at Sequoia Capital,[16] and was also the chief financial officer at YouTube[5] where he negotiated[17] its $1.65 billion sale[18] to Google amidst a competitive auction for the company.

Prior to YouTube, Yu was the treasurer and senior vice president of Finance for Yahoo[19] where he executed over 30 acquisitions/investments for Yahoo, including Alibaba, Taobao, Overture, Inktomi, Flickr, del.icio.us and over $5 billion of capital markets transactions. Prior to Yahoo, Yu was the chief financial officer of NightFire Software (acquired by NeuStar, NYSE: NSR) and held positions at Disney, Hilton, and DLJ / CSFB.[20]

Philanthropy

Yu serves on the board of trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium[21] and the board of directors of Tipping Point Community.[22] Yu is also active philanthropically at his alma mater, Stanford University, where he "made a significant commitment to undergraduate scholarships" and "is volunteering as a member of the School of Engineering Advisory Council and the School of Earth Sciences Task Force."[23] He previously served on the boards of directors of the UCSF Medical Foundation,[24] and BUILD.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Free Birthday Database". birthdatabase.com. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Kawakami, Tim (26 April 2011). "49ers add former Facebook exec Gideon Yu: Is there more to this?". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  3. 1 2 NFL scores A for racial hiring. ESPN, October 22, 2013
  4. ↑ Facebook Hires Gideon Yu as Chief Financial Officer. Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2007
  5. 1 2 YouTube Hires Yahoo! Treasurer. TheStreet.com, September 3, 2006
  6. ↑ "2005 Annual Report". Shareholder.com. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  7. ↑ University School Of Nashville 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award
  8. ↑ "Gideon Yu: Executive Profile & Biography – Bloomberg". investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  9. ↑ San Francisco 49ers Front Office Staff Archived 2013-10-15 at the Wayback Machine. 49ers.com
  10. ↑ Khosla Ventures raises $1b+ and hires Gideon Yu as Partner. New York Times, August 31, 2009
  11. ↑ "Vinod Khosla Succeeds Gideon Yu as Board Member of Square". Ciol.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Facebook Hires Yu as Chief Financial Officer. Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2007
  13. 1 2 Delaney, Kevin (25 July 2007). "Facebook Hires Yu as Finance Chief". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  14. ↑ Microsoft Invests $240 million in Facebook at a $15 billion valuation. New York Times, October 25, 2007
  15. ↑ Li Ka Shing Invests $120 million in Facebook at a $15 billion valuation. Reuters, March 27, 2008
  16. ↑ Gideon Yu becomes a Partner at Sequoia Capital. VentureBeat, April 23, 2007
  17. ↑ How the Google – YouTube Deal was signed Archived June 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Gawker, September 27, 2007
  18. ↑ Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 billion. CNNMoney, October 9, 2006
  19. ↑ Yahoo Corporate Officers Archived 2011-06-17 at the Wayback Machine. Yahoo 2005 Annual Report
  20. ↑ "Architect of Google's YouTube deal exits Facebook". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  21. ↑ "Monterey Bay Aquarium Mission and Leadership". Montereybayaquarium.org. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  22. ↑ "Tipping Point Community". Tipping Point Community. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  23. ↑ "49ers Co-Owner Gives Back". Giving.stanford.edu. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  24. ↑ "Homepage". Giving to UCSF. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  25. ↑ "BUILD Board of Directors". Build.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
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