[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-eun Lee] Tom Alberg, founder of Madrona Ventures Group, an early investor in Amazon who long advised founder Jeff Bezos and had a significant influence on the growth of the U.S. startup industry, has passed away at the age of 82.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others on the 7th (local time), Madrona Ventures Group announced that founder Alberg died at his home on the 5th. Born in 1940 in Seattle, Washington, he attended Harvard University and Columbia Law School, and in 1994 served as an executive at McCaw Cellular Communications, the predecessor of AT&T Mobility. In 1995, he co-founded Madrona Ventures Group and invested in hundreds of startups, contributing to their growth.
Founder Alberg was also known as a longtime advisor to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He established a relationship with Bezos starting with a $50,000 (approximately 65 million KRW) investment in Amazon in 1995. Foreign media have described him as the 'Day 1 investor' since Amazon's founding. Alberg served as a director of Amazon for 23 years, from 1996 to 2019.
Upon hearing the news of his passing, founder Bezos wrote on his Twitter the day before, "Tom was a visionary and simply a wonderful and good man." Major IT company leaders such as Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft (MS), and Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, also paid tribute to founder Alberg.
In addition, founder Alberg participated in fundraising for the establishment of the Four Seasons Seattle and the University of Washington. With his help, the Allen School of Computer Science was established at the University of Washington, and a community of business leaders in Seattle was formed. Alberg also consistently showed interest in issues such as discrimination against people of color and education for socially vulnerable groups. He once pointed out, "Focusing solely on technological growth for the economy is not right," adding, "Social issues like homelessness, institutional discrimination against people of color, and inadequate public education remain unresolved."
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