Michael Moritz steps back from Sequoia due to rare illness

Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz, among Silicon Valley’s legendary venture capitalists, is scaling back his day-to-day management of the Menlo Park, California-based venture capital firm, according to various media reports. In a letter informing Sequoia’s limited partners of the development on Monday morning, Moritz said that he has been “diagnosed with a rare medical condition which can be managed but is incurable.” Douglas Leone will take over the daily management of the firm, the letter says.

Moritz will continue at Sequoia as chairman and be involved with nurturing fresh investments, the letter says. His realigned role will also involve him working closely with some of the younger members at the firm and overseeing existing funds. Read the full text of the letter here.

Starting out as a reporter for Time magazine, Moritz became a venture capitalist with Sequoia in 1986 and went on to write Silicon Valley history with investments in Internet startups such as Google, Yahoo, PayPal and Apple Computer. He ranks among Silicon Valley venture capitalist royalty, alongside Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers’ John Doer and Khosla Ventures’ Vinod Khosla. He has also authored the book Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer.

In India, Moritz steered Sequoia’s entry into this market with the 2006 merger of Bangalore-based WestBridge Capital Partners (the merger was dissolved last year). Since it entry here, the firm has invested in over 50 companies and raised India-dedicated funds worth $1.4 billion so far. Globally, Sequoia is currently investing from a $1.3 billion fund, raised in 2010. Moritz sits on the boards of companies such as LinkedIn, Gamefly and Sugar.

Image Courtesy: Sequoia Capital