Draft:Matthew Brown (businessman)

Matthew Brown is a Texas and Hawaiian-based entrepreneur, private equity/venture investor and space enthusiast. He was previously the chairman at Tamra-Tacoma Capital Partners, a $500 million fund (with investments in Urban Green Energy and Leaf Solar Power), as well as asset manager Kona Private Capital Group, a ~$900 million fund for Hawaiian residential and commercial real estate.

Early life and education
Brown was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. He attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, but did not graduate.

Career
Through Matthew Brown Companies and its investment group, Brown invests in biospace/tech, therapeutics, diagnostics and space ventures, including SpaceX and OpenAI, among others. Most recently, he was involved in the attempt to acquire Virgin Orbit Intellectual Property and intends to license it to the masses through one of his subsidiaries, Partager Aerospace, though with controversy.

Quartz stated that Brown's business experience claims were "questionable" in the wake of the failed rescue of Virgin Orbit, though Brown denies the accusations. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a fraud lawsuit against him.

In addition, this was not Brown's first attack on the Virgin Orbit transaction, this time criticizing the Virgin Orbit board and management on his personal LinkedIn: "'The same day Virgin Orbit announced it was pausing its operations (according to multiple media outlets), the Board approved a golden parachute severance plan for management. Given the unstable financial position of V.O. at the time, I am not certain which is more egregious: that the Board would consider such a severance plan to be proper management oversight or that Management would consider it warranted.'"Brown was a consultant to several institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, the Texas Tech Wind Institute, the Department of Defense, among others.

Personal life
Brown married Tawni Catherine Reynolds on July 23, 2017, sister to Dallas socialite Miranda Hogue, friend of Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes. Brown and Reynolds divorced on November 1, 2021. Brown resides in Hawaii.