Printable Biography of Gideon Yu

Gideon has always been a geek at heart and is truly passionate about science and technology. In 1989, he won the First Place Grand Award at the 40th International Science and Engineering Fair in Environmental Science and gained admittance to the Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers at the age of 17. The project, entitled In Situ Surfactant Flushing, modeled a renewable, environmentally safe method of remediating aquifers that had been contaminated with chlorinated organic chemicals such as PCBs.

After realizing he didn't want to be in a laboratory for the rest of his life, Gideon pursued a career in corporate and strategic finance. Most recently, he was the chief financial officer of Facebook, where he led the $375 million investment round from Microsoft and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing at a record $15 billion valuation. Before that, Gideon worked with fellow Khosla Ventures partner Pierre Lamond at Sequoia Capital, and he was also the chief financial officer at YouTube, where he negotiated its $1.65 billion sale to Google at a highly competitive auction for the company.

Prior to his time with YouTube, Gideon was the treasurer and senior vice president of finance for Yahoo, executing more than 30 acquisitions and investments, including Alibaba / Taobao, Overture, Inktomi, Flickr, and del.icio.us. He also led more than $5 billion in capital markets transactions, including $750 million in zero-coupon / zero-yield convertible notes—Yahoo's first financing since its IPO. Prior to Yahoo, Gideon was the chief financial officer of NightFire Software (acquired by NeuStar, NYSE: NSR) and held positions at Disney, Hilton, and DLJ / CSFB.

Gideon's two true loves are his wife, Susie, and his young son, Jonathan. He graduated from Stanford University, majoring in industrial engineering and engineering management, and he received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Gideon is also active philanthropically and serves on the board of directors of the UCSF Foundation.