104. This venture proved a huge success. Born in 1932, Thomas James Perkins completed his bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). [21] Perkins subsequently apologized for making the comparisons with Nazi Germany, but otherwise stood by his letter, saying, "In the Nazi era it was racial demonization, now it's class demonization. What will eventually become Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is founded. Perkins received a B.S. It is also promoting principals Annie Case and Josh Coyne to the rank of partner. But Kleiners overall investment results were staggering: A mid-90s fund, for example, returned $32 for every dollar invested. Maybe well write slightly bigger checks to own the same amount of a company, but fundamentally that part of our business remains the same.. He was one of the original founders of Kleiner Perkins, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm which later became Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.The company was an early investor in more than 300 information technology and biotech firms . "[10], He joined Kleiner Perkins that year, and since then has directed the distribution of venture capital funding to technology companies including Compaq, Netscape, Symantec, Sun Microsystems, drugstore.com, Amazon.com, Intuit, Macromedia, and Google. Foerster and Marny Eng and musician John Oates on the way that music and imagery can combine to drive narrative, the dramatic heart at the core of the new independent comedy/drama 'Gringa' and the level of difficulty involved in post-pandemic independent film distribution. [53], Kleiner Perkins paid $5 million in 1994 for around 25% of Netscape and profited from Netscape's IPO. Partner Mamoon Hamid says the firm will continue its normal cadence of investing in 35 companies across a roughly two-year period per fund. Her deep network and ability to spot tech trends paid off almost immediately. If you would like to customise your choices, click 'Manage privacy settings'. 09 Sep, 2020, 12:00 AM IST. A former Intel salesman, Doerr joined Kleiner in 1980 and over time became its de facto leader. . After 50 years of dealmaking, the historic firm is back at venture's top table. [3] Doerr is the author of Measure What Matters, a book about goal-setting, and Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now. He also holds several patents for memory devices. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the President and his administration with advice and counsel in trying to fix America's economic downturn. All rights reserved. In a 2007 TED conference, he cited his daughter's remark, "your generation created this problem, you better fix it", as a call to fight global warming. He raised Kleiners first growth fund in 2010 on the assumption that if Kleiner couldnt catch early-stage stars, at least it could get them before their ascent was complete. We, TechCrunch, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. G2 Venture Partners, the firm Popple joined in February, announced his death . [22], Doerr serves on the board of the Obama Foundation and ONE.org. Doerr holds multiple patents for computer memory devices. [15][16][17], In 2013, he invested in DreamBox,[18][19] which has been acquired by Charter School Growth Fund. In July 2006, he formally launched his 289-foot (88m) sailing yacht named The Maltese Falcon, at the time the world's largest privately owned sailing yacht. The company, he said, in 2020 delivered its third consecutive year of 300+% growth, and is on track to do so again in 2021. Caufield, one of the founders of the venture capital firm that would become Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, died on Nov. 26 at age 80. Perkins and Eugene Kleiner co-founded a venture capital firm in 1972 "at a time when parts of Silicon Valley were still largely fruit orchards," as the Times points out. Kleiner Perkins will continue to invest broadly across five technology categories: enterprise tech, consumer tech, deep tech, healthcare and fintech. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the State of California have begun inquiries into the methods used by HP to investigate its directors. According to Reuters , the company's sales grew by 300% and . Dinh represented Perkins in the HP board affair. [21] Before changing his mind in 2012, he was known for challenging those who gave her negative performance reviews. 30 of which are institutions and . [39] John Doerr was also listed as one of the founders of FWD.us in April 2013[citation needed]. For some context, Stords new sales were up 7x in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year. " Pied Piper of the ' Net . But the wins werent enough, and Kleiner continued to miss bigger opportunities. All of a sudden, [Meekers] monster growth fund starts working, and there was a lot of credit-seeking and lobbying for their share, claiming, I did this, and I helped with that, says a former Kleiner investor. Perkins was the subject of a 2007 60 Minutes special titled "Captain of Capitalism", which focused on his memoir and featured a tour of his yacht. A few months later, when Kleiner moved its annual holiday party from the fusty Menlo Circus Club in the suburbs to a hipster venue in San Franciscos gritty Tenderloin neighborhood, Hamid insisted on skipping the uncool practice of providing name tags. [2] While attending MIT, Perkins joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Between 2004 and 2009, the firm had invested $630 million across 54 clean tech companies, and 12 of its 22 partners spent some or all of their time on so-called green investments. Earlier, fellow Canadian cable company Rogers Cablesystems also filed to sell part of its @Home holdings. Even as its alternative-energy investments were blowing up or otherwise foundering, Doerr set out in 2014 to solve the early-stage leadership problem by trying to buy another firm. Jim Justice Or Sen. Joe Manchin? Kleiner also became known as a firm full of highly pedigreed young investors who stayed for a number of years but left without being given a shot at ascending to the top ranks. Stord launched the software part of its business in January 2020, and it grew 900% during the year, and is today one of the fastest-growing parts of its business. . The firms heart may have been in the right place, but its investments flopped. [31], The comprehensive story of HP spying scandal along with critical discussion on involving corporate governance and ethical issues is available at, Commonwealth Club's INFORUM presents Tom Perkins: The War on the 1% (Feb 13, 2014), Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, "Tom Perkins to Give Aspen Chairman's Address", "H-P Faces Probe Over Its Inquiry Into Board Leaks", "Letter from AT&T to Tom Perkins regarding Pretexting", "HP 8-K Filing Reporting Leak Investigation", "Phone-hacking scandal: is this the tipping point for Murdoch's empire? For the rest of us, we can only hope that he continues to inspire us with his unique blend of starry-eyed optimism and rocket expertise. You could not do better than a Kleiner deal, says Silicon Valley historian Leslie Berlin. Kleinerits singular name is as sufficient on Sand Hill Road as Oprah is in Hollywoodwas interested. [14][15] The firm is named after its four founding partners: Eugene Kleiner, Tom Perkins, Frank J. Caufield, and Brook Byers. Companies beyond those in the sexual health and wellness sector have also utilized crowdfunding. Thanks to his successful career as an investor and venture capitalist. Lets be perfectly honest. Mr. Perkins worked at Hewlett-Packard before he met Eugene Kleiner, with whom he co-founded the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1972. 1 Jon Rahm is a heavy favorite to win his fifth PGA Tour title in 2023 this week at the Mexico Open. Info. [41] In early 2016, the firm raised $1.4 billion in KP XVII and DGF III. The supply chain is the new competitive battleground, Henry said. They sought a relatively small amount, $13 million, that would value their idea at $61 million. Join to view profile. Kleiners growth fund grew investments by 2.4 times as of late last year, according to data the firm supplied to its investors. The company guarantees two-day shipping to anywhere in the country. He had also funded the initial investments in Bloom Energy Inc. Doerr is a major backer of the education company Remind. Both Perkins, the moderator and the audience were laughing. The combined net worth of those six donors is just over $325 billion. $2.5 billion, according to our most recent tally. ", "Tech guru may be best hope for News Corp holders", "Venture Capitalist Tom Perkins Sees Kristallnacht Ahead for the Rich", "Millionaire Apologizes for Comparing Progressives to Nazis, Says His Watch Is Worth a '6-Pack of Rolexes', "Tom Perkins: Billionaire venture capitalist ridiculed after writing letter comparing the treatment of rich Americans to the Holocaust", "Tom Perkins Responds To Nazi Germany And 1 Percent Criticism, Says Kristallnacht Was 'Terrible Word To Have Chosen', "Some of the media took his joke out of contest. Perkins and Kleiner took direct management roles with the companies they funded. Industry: Technology. And its a reminder that something as elusive as identifying early-stage winners from the pack of wannabes doesnt get easier, even after more than four decades of practice. L. John Doerr (born June 29, 1951) is an American investor and venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins in Menlo Park, California. Bill Perkins Net Worth. After joining Kleiner Perkins as an entrepreneur-in-residence in 2003, she cofounded the Kleiner-funded mobile software company Good Technology, which sold to Motorola in 2006. Having left Kleiner, Meeker targets $1.25 billion for debut fund out of her new firm, called Bond. Andreessen Horowitz launched a stand-alone crypto fund last year and announced $9 billion in new capital last week, including a $2.5 billion venture fund that was $1.2 billion larger than the fund before it. [37] The firm raised US$600 million for its 18th fund, KP XVIII, in January 2019. Early life and education Hamid, say Kleiner insiders, saw himself as helping; Meekers team viewed Hamids offers as meddling. "Capital Markets: Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers", "Venture Firm Hires Creative Chief at Electronic Arts", "How John Doerr, the old prospector, finally struck Google", "Future Raises $8.5M in Series A Funding Led by Kleiner Perkins to Digitize the Personal Training Experience", "Colin Powell Joins Venture Capital Firm", "One of These Venture Firms Is Not Like The Other", "Gore's Dual Role in Spotlight: Advocate and Investor", "Venture Capital Firm Kleiner Perkins Has Long Nurtured Internet Enterprises", "Exclusive: Big changes coming to Kleiner Perkins", "Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins as a partner to push green investments", "Gore joins Valley's Kleiner Perkins to push green business", "Generation Investment Management and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Create International Alliance to Accelerate Global Climate Solutions", "Kleiner Perkins files to raise $1.2 billion in new venture funds", "Mary Meeker Makes First Investment Out of Bond Capital", "Kleiner partner sues firm for discrimination", "Kleiner Perkins 'Vigorously Denies' Ellen Pao's Gender Discrimination Claims", "Jury Backs Kleiner Perkins in Sex-Bias Case", "Ellen Pao appeals order to pay Kleiner Perkins trial costs", "Ellen Pao Won't Appeal Trial Loss in Case Against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers", "Mary Meeker, 'Queen of the Internet,' is Leaving Kleiner Perkins to Start a New Fund", "The Funded: Kleiner Perkins, TCV raise big new funds", "Why VC Firm Kleiner Perkins Wants to Return to Its Roots With a New $600M Fund", "Why VC Firm Kleiner Perkins Wants to 'Return to its Roots' with a New $600M Fund", "Kleiner Perkins raising green growth fund", "The Kleiner Perkins sFund: A$250 mn bet that social is just getting started", "Kleiner Perkins raising close to $1.3 billion for two funds: Sources", "Fortune: Shyp, a mobile shipping app, raises $50 million", "Deals of the day: Shape Security raises $40 million", "Interos Raises $17.5M from Venrock and Kleiner Perkins to Grow Third-Party Risk Management Platform", "Modern Health just raised $9 million from Kleiner Perkins and Jared Leto to upend how you get mental healthcare at work", "This company wants to help shave $6,200 off your student loans", "Future launches $150/mo exercise app where real coaches nag you", "Stord raises $12.3 million to digitize warehousing and distribution", "Cisco to Acquire Cerent For $6.9 Billion in Stock", "Google has lost $70 billion off its market cap after a 'nasty combination' of slowing ad traffic and a drop in sales per click (GOOG)", "Jeff Bezos told what may be the best startup investment story ever", Private investment in public equity (PIPE), Taxation of private equity and hedge funds, Private equity and venture capital investors, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kleiner_Perkins&oldid=1147946280, Companies based in Menlo Park, California, Financial services companies established in 1972, Venture capital firms of the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 3 April 2023, at 05:21. The firm takes an $8 million stake in Amazon, which goes public the following year. The Kleiner team had been talking to me for a decade about joining, and I thought that if I didnt do it now, I never would.. Kleiner Perkins is an American venture capital firm headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. Then, in mid-2015, when Robinhood was looking for another $50 million at a valuation of $250 million, Kleiner passed again. The two sides disagreed on a number of administrative issues too, like fund governance, hiring practices, and the way investment committees would be structured. Like any venture firm, which invests so early in a companys existence that it often has no revenue yet, Kleiner had its share of stinkers. Some, like electric-car maker Fisker Automotive, went bankrupt. [32] In September 2015, Pao announced she would no longer appeal the jury verdict. In January 2014, the Wall Street Journal published a letter from Perkins[18] that compared the "progressive war on the American one percent" of wealthiest Americans and the Occupy movement's "demonization of the rich" to the Kristallnacht and anti-semitism in Nazi Germany: Writing from the epicenter of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on the "one percent", namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the "rich. Hamid, who had led Social Capitals investment in Slack, joined Kleiner in 2017, a year after Doerr became chairman, a role that connotes something like emeritus status at a venture firm. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Cofounder Bill Gates is ranked second on the list with a net worth of USD 111 billion. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Doerr had personally invested in Social Capital, a not-uncommon practice for the bigwigs of Sand Hill Road, and he thought Palihapitiyas brashness and connections could be the answer to Kleiners problems. "[21], A month after publication of the letter in the Wall Street Journal, Perkins stated in a Commonwealth Club interview (which can be seen on YouTube)[22] when asked at the ending for his 60-minute "Plan to Save the World" he said that he believed elections should be set up such that the number of votes a person can cast would be proportional to the amount of taxes that the person pays. The focus on noshing was culturally if not financially significant. The two sides disagreed about more than compensation. She came of age in an era when analysts worked hand in glove with investment bankers, and her enthusiastic support for companies like Netscape, Amazon, and Googleall in Kleiners portfoliohelped Morgan Stanley win the mandate to underwrite their IPOs. Kleiner invests $5 million for a 25% stake in Netscape, the first commercial web browser, producing returns of $400 million when the company goes public the following year. [26] Meeker departed in 2019 to found Bond Capital. For a . [56] As of 2019, the market cap of Google's parent company was estimated at around $831 billion. And since the fourth quarter is often when people do the most online shopping, Henry expects the three-month period to be Stords heaviest revenue quarter. A bright student since school, he was attracted towards information technology as a fourteen year-old boy who read about the founding of Intel. The new venture fund comes after Kleiner Perkins finished deploying $700 million from its last fund, which was announced in March 2020. And it takes a team to win.. She joins other singers on an Olivia Newton John duets album out this week. Musicians from the New York Philharmonic geek out about their favorite John Williams scores. In 1999, Kleiner Perkins paid $12 million for a stake in Google. Many constitute the next generation of leadership in the venture capital worldbut not at Kleiner. Kleiner forms $200 million pandemic and biodefense fund focused on preventing infectious-disease pandemics. Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers 2750 Sand Hill RoadMenlo Park, California 94025U.S.A.Telephone: (650) 233-2750Fax: . Intel president Andrew Grove told him, "John, venture capital, that's not a real job. [16][17] Byers joined in 1977. Under the sponsorship of famed Wall Street analyst Mary Meeker, a Kleiner partner since 2011, the firm that had failed repeatedly to invest at increasing levels now participated in the $363 million funding round, valuing Robinhood at $5.6 billion. Kleiner Perkins, John Doerr falling behind after betting big on cleantech . [22], Colin Powell joined as a "strategic" partner in 2005,[11] while Al Gore joined as a partner[13][23] in 2007[21][24] as part of a collaboration between Kleiner Perkins and Generation Investment Management. Overview. Doug Mackenzie's house. Excited to announce the Venture Climate Alliance, uniting generalist and energy investors in their commitment to Net Zero. Net worth: $7.67 billion. He did so on a scholarship, studying electrical . Electric-car maker Fisker Automotive, funded by other Kleiner investment vehicles, later goes bankrupt. Vinod Khosla Net Worth $2 Billion. [14], He currently serves on the boards of Google, Amyris Biotech, Tradesy, ASAPP and Zynga. However, the . Doerr was a prominent Democratic fundraiser and pal of former Vice President Al Gore, whom Doerr made a Kleiner partner. Kleiner had sat out on another generation of technology investments, the crop of so-called Web 2.0 companies, including Facebook in the 2000s. In need of a new strategy and a high-wattage personality to match his own, Doerr found both. The success of Meekers fund had proved to be a boon to other partners. degrees in electrical engineering from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1976. Wed like to have a high-quality selection of snacks that makes everyone happy, he wrote in an email. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion, Doerr is an active philanthropist. In a press release at the time, the company said the growth arm would feature the same team, with the same strategy, investing in the same sectors as its early stage fund. The sFund, launched in 2010 with strategic partners Amazon.com, Facebook, Zynga . [13], In 2008 he announced with Steve Jobs the Kleiner Perkins $100 million iFund, declaring the iPhone "more important than the personal computer" because "it knows who you are" and "where you are." [12] One business commentator, noting Perkins' prior experience with phone-hacking in the HP scandal, speculated that Perkins "may be [was the] best hope" as News Corp. sought to work out of its phone-hacking scandal. Stord also achieved more than $100 million in revenue in the first two quarters of 2021, according to Henry, and grew its headcount from 160 people last year to over 450 so far in 2021 (including about 150 Fulfillment Works employees). [8][9] In 1980, Doerr was offered a job with Kleiner Perkins. Kleiner Perkins helped take @Home, the . Doerr, Meeker, and other Kleiner principals all declined to be interviewed for this article or to comment. YOU HAVE 20,000 FOLLOWERS: $100 per post at a $5/CPM. [25] In 2010, he purchased the penthouse atop the Millennium Tower on Mission Street in San Francisco's financial district. Pitch supported my move; we collaborated on several investments. Vinod Khosla, another Sun cofounder and the closest Doerr had to an investing peer, jumped ship in 2004 to set up his own shop, a formidable power on Sand Hill Road today. Kevin Compton joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1990. But if companies want to use the same system for existing logistics, they can buy our software to get that kind of visibility.. [11] The firm was described by Dealbook in 2009 as "one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital providers",[13] and The Wall Street Journal in 2010 called it one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms. Hard-working business innovator Daymond John has been known to say that he is "retired" because hes doing what he loves - helping other people succeed. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. [26][27][28] The yacht was listed for sale in 2006 on Yachtworld.com, the asking price being 99,000,000 with engine hours listed at 1,890 hours. Union Square Ventures was among the first to put money into Twitter. Perkins was active in the business industry from 1963 until his passing in June 2016. [11], Doerr has backed entrepreneurs, including Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt of Google; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com; and Scott Cook and Bill Campbell of Intuit. Reflects change since 5 pm ET of prior trading day. He is considered a pioneer of Silicon Valley. During the HP/Compaq merger fight in 2001, Perkins was a member of the Compaq board and an outspoken supporter of the merger. Doerr is a supporter of the Democratic Party and has hosted fundraisers for the party on several occasions. The Wall Street Journal and other media have called it one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms and by Dealbook as "one of Silicon . Kleiners new growth fund invested in the likes of Facebook, LendingClub, DocuSign, Snapchat, and Slackall companies seeded by other venture capitalists that nevertheless had plenty of upside left when Meeker invested. One of five siblings, Doerr graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis. View the latest funds and 13F holdings. Having to sweat to get into a promising startup would have been unthinkable during Kleiners golden years, from its founding in 1972 through its $11.8 million investment in Google in 1999. See Brook H Byers's compensation, career history, education, & memberships. Updated Dec 16, 2021, 6:32am PST. With FulfillmentWorks, the company says it has increased its first-party warehouses, coupled with its network of over 400 warehouse partners and 15,000 carriers. Henry Hillman, an early backer of private equity firm KKR and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, died in April 2017 at age 98. He approached Chamath Palihapitiya, an outspoken former Facebook executive who was the driving force behind Social Capital, which at the time was planning to raise its third fund. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC . . Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs[1] in over 900 ventures,[2][3] including America Online,[4] Amazon.com,[5] Tandem Computers, Compaq,[6] Electronic Arts,[4] JD.com, Square,[7] Genentech,[6] Google, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Nest, Palo Alto Networks, Synack, Snap, AppDynamics, and Twitter. In July, 2011, Dinh and fellow News Corp. board member Joel Klein took over the investigation of the News of the World phone hacking affair and related Corporation issues. [26], In August 2010, they signed the Giving Pledge, a campaign set up by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Warren Buffett to get ultra-high-net-worth individuals to donate their fortunes to charitable causes within their lifetime. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Xiii, Llc Net Worth 2023 and insider trades. (Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California is a road that is notable for its . In 1999, Kleiner Perkins paid $12 million for a stake in Google. It didnt help that Kleiner faced a myriad of distractions. It's gone on to fund several past fellows, including Dylan Field of Figma, now worth $10 billion. Enjoy a 7-Day Free Trial Thru Apr 20, 2023! I always wanted to invest, she told Wired in 2012. There were successes. [5] He joined the HP board of directors in the merger, retired, and officially rejoined the HP board days before Carly Fiorina was forced to resign from her posts as chairman and chief executive officer of HP. [38], In March 2008 Kleiner Perkins announced the iFund, a $100 million venture capital investment initiative that funds concepts related to the iPhone, and doubled that investment a year later. Category: Richest Business. If you werent already a superhero coming in, you werent going to become a superhero at Kleiner.. To learn more please visit www.loom.com. Founded in late 2015, Loom has raised $203M from world-class investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Iconic, and Coatue. Put simply, Stord aims to give brands a way to compete with the likes of Amazon, which has set expectations of fast fulfillment and delivery. Over time, Stord has evolved into a cloud supply chain that can give companies a way to compete and grow with logistics, and provides an integrated platform thats available exactly when and where they need it, Henry said. [18], Located in Menlo Park, California, Kleiner Perkins had access to the growing technology industries in the area. KPCB funded companies like Amazon, AOL, Genentech, Google, and Netscape. One of their goals was to be able to assure entrepreneurs that Kleiners growth outfit would be able to fund later investment rounds in their companies. Doerr stepped down from his role leading the firm in 2016, ceding the leadership to fellow investor Ted Schlein. And as Meeker was racking up victories, Kleiners early-stage practice continued to stumbleespecially compared with the competition and its own illustrious past. Doerr scored a string of hitsNetscape, Amazon, and Googlebecoming an active and forceful board member at the tech industrys most exciting companies. Steve Anderson, for example, did a four-year stint in the early 2000s. They separated in August 1999 and were later amicably divorced. She will lose her case, but the firms reputation suffers badly in a public trial. Trae Vassallo, key to one of Kleiners biggest successes of the era, thermostat maker Nest, started her own early-stage-focused firm, called Defy. About two months ago, Stord announced the opening of its first fulfillment center, a 386,000-square-foot facility, in Atlanta, which features warehouse robotics and automation technologies. For Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers general partner Randy Komisar, things went sour with Ellen Pao in 2010 when she suggested to him that the senior management of the patent startup RPX "hated . Fast-forward two years and Stord an Atlanta-based company thathas developed a cloud supply chain is raising more capital in a round again led by Kleiner Perkins. Currently Kevin service's as the board representative for Kleiner Perkins at AOptix Technologies, Kodiak Networks and Puppet . [3] He served as the only chairman of Tandem Computers, from its founding in 1974 until its 1997 merger with Compaq. . . Talks eventually broke down, however, over how much control Palihapitiya, who declined to comment for this article, would have over all of Kleiner. We built software to run our logistics and network of hundreds of warehouses, Henry told TechCrunch. AT&T confirmed that someone pretended to be Perkins, using his phone number and his Social Security Number. John Doerr, now 67 years old, remains Kleiners chairman.