Talk:Douglas Leone

Request for infobox update
Hello again Wikipedia editors. I work with Sequoia Capital, where Doug is a general partner, and I'm hoping to work with all of you to make a few minor updates to this article. My first request is about the infobox. Right now his spouse, Patricia Perkins-Leone, is listed as "Patricia Perkins" in the infobox and as "Patricia Perkins-Leone" in the Personal life section. One of the current cited sources in the Personal life section, the 2017 article in the Environment Hawaii newsletter, uses her full name. Could we update the infobox to also use her full name, possibly citing the same source?

I'm going to post a second request about updates to the body of the article, but I thought it made sense to cover the infobox update separately. Because I have a COI, I will refrain from making any edits myself and will post all my requests here on the Talk page so editors can review them and make sure they align with Wikipedia guidelines. Thank you for your attention to this. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 19:23, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

Request for article updates
Hello again Wikipedia editors. Per my request above I work with Sequoia Capital and am hoping to collaborate with editors here to make a few minor updates to this article. In addition to the Infobox request, I'd like to recommend a few changes to the body of the article.

Right now the introduction states that Doug is the managing partner of Sequoia Capital. This Forbes article from April and this TechCrunch article (also from April) note that he is now general partner after a leadership restructuring. Could someone please change his title?

The Career section is out of date and poorly sourced. I did a very light revision below, being careful to avoid any edits to any controversial topics given my conflict of interest:


 * These updates edits have been incorporated into the article and the edit request has been closed. The career edits go well beyond a “light” edit, however, so interested editors are encouraged to take a look and review for WP:Puffery, WP:Coatrack, and the like. I believe the incorporation of the board positions is appropriate given the business biography. The requested title inclusion was inappropriate, however. Go4thProsper (talk) 01:42, 19 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Thank you so much for making these updates, Go4thProsper. I really appreciate you taking the time to help.
 * Another editor, Proscribe, had already implemented a few of these requests, and as a result there now seem to be duplicated passages in the Career section, namely the entire paragraph about Doug donating to Donald Trump and then the following line about him stepping back from his role as managing partner. Could you take a look at this and remove the duplicated material?
 * Two other points: First, I apologize if "light" did not adequately describe my revisions to the Career section. I will be careful about using that adjective in the future. Second, Proscribe did add the Order of the Star of Italy award to the Personal life section, and also added Doug's name to the recipient list on the article for said award. Proscribe supported this addition with a citation to Italian-language media coverage. (I think this editor is active at WikiProject Italy.)
 * Thank you again for your assistance here. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 20:05, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Hello again, Go4thProsper. Thank you for cutting out the duplicated Donald Trump paragraph, but it looks like the duplicated claim about Doug stepping back from his role as managing partner is still there.
 * The two passages in question here are slightly different, but read repetitive. The first one ("In April 2022…") contains a few additional details. As such, it likely makes sense to keep the first one, but move it to the end of the section (where the second one is now) so that all of the information is presented in chronological order. If editors prefer to remove the first version and keep the second version, would it be possible to specify that Doug is "continuing as a general partner in Sequoia’s existing funds" to ensure accuracy?
 * Thanks again. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 19:25, 26 August 2022 (UTC)

Career
Leone began his career in sales and management positions at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Prime Computer. He joined Sequoia Capital in 1988, became a managing partner in 1996, and became the global managing partner in 2012.

In 2017, Forbes named him a top-10 investor in the technology industry in the United States. Leone has been involved in Sequoia investments in numerous companies, including Aruba Networks, Hyperion/Arbor Software, International Network Services, Medallia, Netezza, PlanGrid, Rackspace, RingCentral, and ServiceNow. He also led Sequoia's international expansion into China and India.

In 2017, he was ranked #693 on Forbes list of the World's Billionaires, with a net worth of US$2.9 billion. In 2020, he was named on the Forbes Billionaires list with wealth of US$3.5 billion and ranked #538. His ranking on the list in 2022 was #350, with a net worth of US$6.9 billion.

Leone and his wife donated $100,000 to support President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, and Leone was appointed to Trump's task force on re-opening the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Washington Post reported that Leone proposed using his connections in the Trump Administration to help smooth the sale of TikTok (in which Sequoia had invested heavily) to a US corporation. Leone renounced his support for Trump following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.

In April 2022, Sequoia announced that Roelof Botha would replace Leone as its senior steward of global brand and operations, effective July 5th after Leone’s 65th birthday. Leone continues to be a general partner in Sequoia’s existing funds as of mid-2022.

Board service
Leone is a board member for several companies, including ActionIQ, Cyera, Island, Nubank, strongDM, Trade Republic, and Wiz.

In the above draft, I made the following edits: (a) Moved the line about China and India + improved sourcing, (b) updated the investment sentence + improved sourcing, (c) added mention of his latest ranking on the Forbes World's Billionaires list, (d) created a new paragraph explaining that he is now general partner, and (e) created a new Board service section and moved board details here (plus updated claims + improved sourcing).

Finally, for the Personal life section, could we mention that he was granted an Officer of the Knights award by the Order of the Star of Italy in May 2021? You can see documentation of that recognition here. I'm not pushing for its inclusion to be promotional, but because it's a very prestigious award and it seems worth covering here.

Again, because I have a COI I will refrain from making any of these edits myself. I am hoping editors watching this Talk page can review what I've proposed above and implement if it makes sense to do so. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 19:31, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

Request for Hawaii update
Hello again, Wikipedia editors. I'm back with one additional request. The last line of this article is about a property in Hawaii that Doug and his family previously owned. The current language suggests they "have been seeking to build an oceanfront home" there, but that's inaccurate as the property was actually sold in 2018. There is no media coverage of the sale, but the following links confirm the address and the transaction (please note: they also mention other non-notable individuals, in case there's an appropriate way to cite these and retain their privacy):


 * The lot address was mentioned in a Maui News article in 2015.
 * The property record from the County of Maui confirms that the lot was sold in 2018, though it doesn't identify the Leones, only the current owners.
 * The minutes of a planning meeting] of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources confirms the sale in 2018, mentioning the former owners as the Leones and noting the current owners.

Could the page be updated to reflect the sale?


 * Current: They have been seeking to build an oceanfront home in Makena, Maui, Hawaii, but as of November 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled against the development.
 * Suggested: They sought to build an oceanfront home in Makena, Maui, Hawaii, but in November 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled against the development. The Leones sold the property in 2018.

Please let me know if this language would work. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 19:28, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done for now: Unreliable sourcing. Quetstar (talk) 21:27, 9 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you for looking into this, Quetstar. I do understand that the property sale was never covered by reliable media outlets and thus stating definitively that it sold may not be possible. Perhaps we could simply remove the present perfect tense ("have been seeking...") from the existing language? So instead of...
 * Current: They have been seeking to build an oceanfront home in Makena, Maui, Hawaii, but as of November 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled against the development.
 * We could just say...
 * Suggested: In November 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled against the Leones' attempt to build an oceanfront home in Makena, Maui.
 * Using past tense like that would prevent this claim from looking increasingly dated. What do you think? VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 21:37, 21 September 2022 (UTC)

Request to delete duplicated passage
Hello again, Wikipedia editors.

The Career section of this article contains a duplicated claim about Doug Leone stepping back from his role as managing partner. The current fourth paragraph reads as follows:


 * "In April 2022, Sequoia announced that Roelof Botha would replace Leone as its senior steward of global brand and operations, effective July 5th after Leone’s 65th birthday. Leone continues to be a general partner in Sequoia’s existing funds as of mid-2022."

And then that same information appears as the sixth (and last) paragraph:


 * "As of July 2022, following his 65th birthday, Leone stepped back from his role as managing partner at Sequoia, continuing as a general partner."

In the comments above, I made several requests that these sentences be merged together. I'm reposting that ask here to clarify my request.

I have a COI because I work for Sequoia Capital so I would prefer other editors handle this change. I think the easiest option would be to have the fourth paragraph ("In April 2022…") move to the end and replace the sixth ("As of July 2022...") but if editors prefer the wording in the second version (or some variation of it) that's fine as well. VS for Sequoia Capital (talk) 23:54, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
 * It appears that this change has been made and the sixth paragraph in question has been removed. The language of the 4th paragraph is sufficient to eliminate the prior duplication. Go4thProsper (talk) 01:40, 23 October 2022 (UTC)