Robert Duggan (venture capitalist)

Last updated
Bob Duggan
Entrepreneur - Bob Duggan.jpg
Born
Robert W. Duggan

1944or1945(age 79–80) [1]
Oakland, California, US
Education University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, philanthropist, biotech executive, health care executive, educator, human rights activist
Known forForbes List of 400 Billionaires Former CEO of Pharmacyclics
TitleCEO, Summit Therapeutics
Term2020-
Children8
Honours
Website robertduggan.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Robert W. Duggan (born 1944) is an American billionaire, entrepreneur, philanthropist, biotech executive, health care executive, educator, and human rights activist. He is the former CEO of biopharmaceutical company Pharmacyclics [2] and was previously CEO of surgical systems maker Computer Motion from 1997 to 2003. [3] Bob is the majority shareholder and is on the boards of directors of Pulse Biosciences and Summit Therapeutics, where he is also CEO. [4]

Contents

Early life

Robert Duggan (Bob) was born in Oakland, California, in 1944; the third of five children. [5] His father was an Irish immigrant who became an industrial engineer in the U.S; his mother was a nurse. [6] According to Robert Duggan in Investopedia, “We [our family] made about $800 a month…The last couple days of every month we scrambled around the house looking for lost quarters, dimes, and nickels [to pay the bills]." [7]

Duggan attended St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California, where he was both the captain and quarterback of the school football team. [6] Robert is recorded as saying “I captained my football team, I'd get in a huddle, and I'd go: ‘Guys – sacrifice your body. We're behind in this game. We are not losing this game. Get out there. Sacrifice your body. Win the game guys. There's nothing more important in life right now than winning this game.'" [8]

After graduating cum laude from St. Francis High School, he attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in business and economics. [1] At UCSB he met Herbert C. Kay, a Wharton fellow and acclaimed Stanford graduate who became his mentor. [9]

Duggan's first business venture was mowing lawns as a teenager in California. He said this about the lawn mowing enterprise to Entrepreneur.com, "as a teenager, my first business was mowing lawns. My goal as a teenager was not to make the Forbes 400 list but to simply make enough money to get myself through college. When I was mowing lawns I realized when I went that extra mile to make a difference for the better, the property owner wanted to tip me or give me more work. It wasn't even very difficult. Sometimes it was a simple smile, extra care to make sure a hedge was edged perfectly, or taking the time when I was done to have the owner walk the property with me admiring my work." [10]

Career

Sunset Designs

Duggan's first company, Sunset Designs, supplied Jiffy Stitchery kits to consumers - helping them create their own high-quality stitched projects at home. [11] He invested $100k in Sunset Designs, and sold it to British consumer-goods giant Reckitt Benckiser Group for $15 million in the mid-1980s. [12] More than 7,000 retail locations sold Jiffy Stitchery kits, giving the company an 80% market share. [13] The company was sold to Reckitt & Bensicker for $15m. [14]

Paradise Bakery

Duggan, the Patterson Brothers and Carter Holmes were partners in Paradise Bakery & Café, which opened in 1976. Paradise Bakery distributed cookies to major corporations such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Disney World. [15] Duggan developed the recipe for the “Chocolate Chip Chipper”. The bakery was sold to Chart House in 1987 and is now owned by Panera Bread. [16] The Paradise Bakery in downtown Aspen is still in operation as of 2020 and maintains the Paradise Bakery name. [17]

Communication Machinery Corp

Duggan founded Communication Machinery Corp (CMC), which was the third company in the world to create and sell Ethernet Node Processors, a computer networking technology utilized for establishing local area networks (LAN) and providing a gateway to the internet. [18] The corporation was sold to Rockwell International for $45 million. [19]

Government Technology Services (GTSI)

In the 1980s, Duggan founded Government Technology Services, Inc (GTSI), and sold new computer technologies and services, primarily to government agencies. [6] GTSI was an early pioneer in the new field that would become e-commerce. GTSI engaged in some notable firsts: the first browser-based government contract catalog, the first-ever use of a credit card on the internet (as part of a deal with NASA) in 1995, and the first government IT portal. [20]

In 1996 GTSI was the largest reseller to the U.S. Government of microcomputer software and Unix hardware. [21] Under Duggan's leadership, GTSI grew from an $8 million company to over $600 million in revenue, [6] ultimately being acquired by UNICOM Global in 2012. [22]

Metropolis Media

In the mid 1990s, Duggan and his son Demian helped found Metropolis Media, an organization with the purpose of helping formerly communist countries transition to free-market societies and to enable consumer advertising. [23] Serving as the chairman of the board, as well as personally investing the $3 million initial financial capital, Duggan oversaw the organization's spread to outdoor marketing projects throughout Eastern Europe, in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia. Capital Research purchased the enterprise at a price of over $45 million. [19] Metropolis Media is now owned by French advertising giant JCDecaux Group.

Computer Motion (Intuitive Surgical)

Duggan was a founding shareholder of Computer Motion (now Intuitive Surgical), which develops the technology used in robot-assisted surgery, aimed at improving patients' experiences by reducing the degree of invasion during surgery. [24] [25] The company worked to accomplish "patient and physician-friendly" robotic surgery - a term coined by Duggan who led the company as chairman from 1990 to 2003. [26] On 7 Sept 2001 Computer Motion conducted the "Lindbergh Operation" - the first transatlantic telesurgical operation. It was performed by surgeons in New York on a patient in France. [27]

Pharmacyclics

Pharmacyclics is a pharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of cancer therapies. [28] From 2008 to 2015, Duggan was the largest investor in as well as chairman and CEO of Pharmacyclics. [29] The company then focused its research on ibrutinib (branded as Imbruvica), a B cell cancer drug highly effective for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common form of adult leukemia. [30] Imbruvica was approved for the treatment of four different types of blood cancer. [31]

Duggan invested in Pharmacyclics when it was valued at between $1 and $3 per share, and negotiated its sale to AbbVie at $261.25 per share in 2015, in a deal valued at $21 billion. [32] He received $3.5 billion from the sale of Pharmacyclics to AbbVie in "one of the biggest paydays ever from the buyout of a publicly held company." [33] [34] As CEO and chairman of Pharmacyclics from 2008 to 2015, Duggan had opted not to receive compensation from the company. [35]

Investopedia says, between 2008 and 2015, "Duggan saved Pharmacyclics and turned it into a billion‐dollar company with more than 500 employees." [36]

Pulse Biosciences

Since November 2017, Duggan has been chairman of Pulse Biosciences. [37] Pulse develops bioelectric technology, such as Nano-Pulse Stimulation (NPS) technology, which has applications including cosmetic and medical conditions. For example, it has the potential to quickly and painlessly remove skin lesions (like melanomas). [38] As of February 2017, he owned a 15.4% stake in the company. [39]

Summit Therapeutics

After having been a director since December 2019, Duggan was appointed as CEO of Summit Therapeutics, a clinical-stage drug development company focused on new mechanism antibiotics, in spring 2020. [40] He is the company's leading shareholder and will serve as CEO without compensation. [41] Summit is focused on developing ridinilazole, a potential new treatment for C. difficile. [42]

Genius Inc.

Duggan is the founder of Genius Inc., a company which coaches organizations and executives on "the 24 characteristics of geniuses." [43] The organization's program is based on the "24 Characteristics of Genius" described by Dr. Alfred Barrios in 1980. [44]

Duggan Investments

Duggan invests in fields such as cancer treatment, anti-microbial therapeutics, human longevity and anti-aging technologies, and stem cell research.

Philanthropy

Duggan is on the board of trustees at UCSB, [45] and has funded educational endeavors such as athletic departments, the UC Santa Barbara Gold Circle Society and two faculty chair positions (in Mathematics and in Life and Physical Sciences). [46] He has made foundational donations to new departments such as the Institute for Energy Efficiency and the XIV Dalai Lama Chair in Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies. [47]

Bob Duggan with Mountain Bike in Costa Rica Bob Duggan with bicycle.jpg
Bob Duggan with Mountain Bike in Costa Rica

Political activity

Duggan contributed $817,800 to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign. [48]

Awards and recognition

Duggan has received numerous awards and acknowledgements for his work in the fields of technology, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and activism. He has received a Congressional Medal of Merit from Ron Paul, [49] and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by French President Jacques Chirac in 2000. [50] He received a Key to the City for the city of Shanghai, China.

Duggan received the 2016 Venky Narayanamurti Entrepreneurial Leadership Award from the UCSB College of Engineering for his work in technological entrepreneurship. [51]

Personal life

Bob Duggan was married to Patricia J. "Trish" Hagerty whom he met when both were students at UCSB. [52] Bob Duggan and Trish Duggan were divorced in 2017. [43] They have 8 children. [53]

Duggan is an avid surfer, who began surfing in Santa Cruz, California, later travelling Hawaii and to countries such as Costa Rica, Nicaragua,and Mexico. His children have often accompanied him, learning their early surfing skills as young as three years old. [54]

Duggan and his ex-wife are members of the Church of Scientology. Duggan has been referred to as the church's largest donor. [36]

In 2020, Forbes ranked Duggan No. 378 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America. [55]

Related Research Articles

<i>Forbes</i> American business magazine

Forbes is an American business magazine founded by B.C. Forbes in 1917 and owned by Hong Kong-based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairperson and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes, and its CEO is Mike Federle. It is based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Competitors in the national business magazine category include Fortune and Bloomberg Businessweek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Pincus</span> American Internet entrepreneur

Mark Jonathan Pincus is an American Internet entrepreneur known as the founder of Zynga, a mobile social gaming company. Pincus also founded the startups Freeloader, Inc., Tribe Networks, and Support.com. Pincus served as the CEO of Zynga until July 2013, then again from 2015 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masayoshi Son</span> Japanese entrepreneur (born 1957)

Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. A third-generation Zainichi Korean, he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. He is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG), a strategic technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Rowe Price</span> American publicly owned investment firm

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is an American publicly owned global investment management firm that offers funds, subadvisory services, separate account management, and retirement plans and services for individuals, institutions, and financial intermediaries. The firm has assets under management of more than $1.51 trillion and annual revenues of $6.48 billion as of 2023, placing it 537 on the Fortune 1000 list of the largest U.S. companies. Headquartered at 100 East Pratt Street in Baltimore, Maryland, it has 7,868 employees across 17 international offices serving clients in 55 countries.

Nicholas J. Pritzker is an American real estate and venture entrepreneur in San Francisco, California. He served as the Chairman of the board and CEO of the Hyatt Development Corporation. He is a member of the wealthy Pritzker family, who owned chewing-tobacco giant Conwood before selling it to Reynolds American.

Investopedia is a financial media website headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1999, Investopedia provides investment dictionaries, advice, reviews, ratings, and comparisons of financial products, such as securities accounts. It is part of the Dotdash Meredith family of brands owned by IAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Dalio</span> American investor and hedge fund manager (born 1949)

Raymond Thomas Dalio is an American investor and hedge fund manager, who has served as co-chief investment officer of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, since 1985. He founded Bridgewater in 1975 in New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shahrzad Rafati</span> Iranian Canadian entrepreneur

Shahrzad Rafati is an Iranian-Canadian chairwoman and CEO of BroadbandTV Corp (BBTV) – a global media company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, which has been operating in video entertainment since 2005 by working with content creators and media companies.

Betterment is an American financial advisory company which provides digital investment, retirement and cash management services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Novogratz</span> American businessman

Michael Edward Novogratz is an American investor, formerly of the investment firm Fortress Investment Group. He is currently CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners which focuses on investments in cryptocurrency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Hollod</span> American businessman

Chris Hollod is a venture capitalist, angel investor, and advisor in Los Angeles. Hollod was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Tailwind Acquisition Corp. which merged with Terran Orbital in March 2022 in a $1.8 billion deal. Over the course of his career, Hollod has completed more than 150 deals across five different investment entities, including investments in Uber, Airbnb, Houzz, Spotify, Pinterest, Duolingo, Airtable, Oscar Health, Flexport, Casper, and Warby Parker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aneel Bhusri</span> Indian-American business executive

Aneel Bhusri is an American business executive. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Workday. He is also a partner at Greylock Partners and was a member of Intel's board of directors between 2014 and 2019. Bhusri has been a billionaire since 2014; as of 2021 he has a net worth of $3.1 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Park (entrepreneur)</span> Korean American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of FitBit

James Park is a South Korean-American technology entrepreneur. He co-founded Fitbit and has been its CEO and president since September 2007. He was named in 2015 among Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40, an annual ranking of the most influential young people in business. With a net worth of $660 million estimated by Forbes, he was ranked #29 in the magazine's America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 in 2015. James Park announced that Fitbit became part of Google on January 14, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kavin Bharti Mittal</span> Indian internet entrepreneur (born 1987)

Kavin Bharti Mittal is an Indian internet entrepreneur primarily known for his role as the founder and CEO of Hike, the company behind the unicorn Hike Messenger and the Rush Gaming Universe (RGU), a mobile gaming application.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Neumann</span> Israeli-American businessman (born 1979)

Adam Neumann is an Israeli-American billionaire businessman and investor. In 2010, he co-founded WeWork with Miguel McKelvey, where he was CEO from 2010 to 2019. In 2019, he co-founded a family office dubbed 166 2nd Financial Services with his wife, Rebekah Neumann, to manage their personal wealth, investing over a billion dollars in real estate and venture startups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hussain Sajwani</span> Emirati businessman

Hussain Sajwani, is an Emirati billionaire businessman and the founder of the property development company, DAMAC Properties, and his private investment company, DAMAC Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jens Hilgers</span> German serial entrepreneur (born 1975)

Jens Hilgers is a German entrepreneur who works in the esports industry. He was the founding CEO of the esports production company Electronic Sports League (ESL), and is a co-founder and the CEO of Bayes, an esports data company based in Berlin. In 2014, he co-founded G2 Esports together with Carlos "Ocelot" Rodriguez, and currently serves as its chairman. He is also the founding general partner of BITKRAFT Ventures, a global early and mid-stage investment platform for gaming, esports, and a new technology named Web3. He has been credited as an early pioneer of the esports industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillaume Pousaz</span> Swiss entrepreneur

Guillaume Pousaz is a Dubai-based Swiss-born entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is the CEO and founder of payment platform Checkout.com. As of April 2023, he has an estimated net worth of US$7.2 billion according to Forbes magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdallah Abu Sheikh</span> Emirati-Jordanian businessman

Abdallah Abu Sheikh is an Emirati businessman, founder of Astra Tech, and CEO of Botim.

References

  1. 1 2 "Forbes profile: Robert Duggan". Forbes. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. ↑ Sean Williams (27 February 2013). "This Is One Incredible CEO". fool.com.
  3. ↑ "The $3.55 billion Man". America's Markets.
  4. ↑ "About Bob". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  5. ↑ Cassell, Warren (3 Feb 2020). "How Robert Duggan Became a Billionaire". Investopedia. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Robert Duggan Biography". Brooksy. 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  7. ↑ Cassell, Warren Jr. "How Robert Duggan Became a Billionaire". Investopedia. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  8. ↑ Albert, Tim (2018-04-17), "Know the game", Winning the Publications Game, CRC Press, pp. 1–13, doi:10.1201/9781315384153-1, ISBN   978-1-315-38415-3 , retrieved 2020-09-22
  9. ↑ George Thurlow (Summer 2015). "Everybody's a Genius". UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association.
  10. ↑ Duggan, Bob (2015-08-27). "Don't Just Make a Difference. Make a Difference for the Better". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  11. ↑ "First Venture". Robert Duggan. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  12. ↑ Varney, Amy (5 April 2019). "Bob Duggan". Oxstem. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "Robert Duggan". Robert Duggan. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "Domination of the market with over 80% market share". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  15. ↑ "Premium distributors of freshly baked cookies". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  16. ↑ Romero, Peter (2016-02-11). "Panera buys into a second, higher-end concept". Restaurant Business. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  17. ↑ Krause, David (26 May 2020). "Paradise Bakery to remain in its original location in downtown Aspen". aspentimes.com. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  18. ↑ "Transcript & Video of Bob Duggan's 2009 Science and Math Commencement Speech: | Division of Mathematical Life and Physical Sciences - UC Santa Barbara". www.science.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  19. 1 2 Hassan, Waqar Ul (2014-05-25). "A Close Look at a Great Entrepreneur - Robert Duggan". MENAEntrepreneur.org - Entrepreneur Blog - Business Directory. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  20. ↑ "The first-ever use of a credit card on the Internet". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  21. ↑ "Government Services Technology". Government Technology Services. 7 July 1997. Archived from the original on 4 July 1997.
  22. ↑ "As predicted: GTSI brand is no more". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  23. ↑ "Helping countries transition to free-market capitalism". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  24. ↑ "Robert Duggan - Computer Motion Inc (rbot)". The Wall Street Transcript. 2002-02-18. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  25. ↑ "DaVinci by Intuitive". Intuitive. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  26. ↑ "Bob Duggan". Robert Duggan. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  27. ↑ Marescaux, Jacques; Leroy, Joel; Gagner, Michel; Rubino, Francesco; Mutter, Didier; Vix, Michel; Butner, Steven E.; Smith, Michelle K. (27 September 2001). "Transatlantic robot-assisted telesurgery". Nature. 413 (6854): 379–380. Bibcode:2001Natur.413..379M. doi:10.1038/35096636. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   11574874. S2CID   4395164.
  28. ↑ "Pharmacyclics Stock Price, Forecast and News" . Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  29. ↑ "Board of Directors - Pulse Biosciences". Pulse Biosciences. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  30. ↑ "Can a 72-year-old, surf-loving Scientologist score again with this med device startup?". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  31. ↑ "Developers of the breakthrough oncology cancer drug". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  32. ↑ Vardi, Nathan. "Billionaire Robert Duggan's New Biotech Chapter: An Antibiotics Quest". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  33. ↑ Antoine Gara. "Robert Duggan". Forbes.
  34. ↑ "The Hiring Guru: Robert Duggan Billionaire". The Huffington Post. 18 April 2014.
  35. ↑ Gary Strauss (March 24, 2015). "The $3.55 billion Man". USA Today . Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  36. 1 2 Cassell, Warren Jr. "How Robert Duggan Became a Billionaire". Investopedia. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  37. ↑ "Board of Directors - Pulse Biosciences". Pulse Biosciences. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  38. ↑ Krader, Cheryl (7 February 2020). "Nano-pulse stimulation promising for skin lesions". Dermatology Times. Dermatology Times, February 2020 (Vol. 41, No. 2). 41. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  39. ↑ "BRIEF-Robert Duggan reports 15.4 pct stake in Pulse Biosciences". Reuters. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  40. ↑ "Summit Appoints Robert W Duggan as Chief Executive Officer". Globe News Wire (Press release). 14 April 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  41. ↑ "Summit Appoints Robert W Duggan as Chief Executive Officer". Global News Wire (Press release). 14 April 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  42. ↑ "Summit Therapeutics gets US$50mln backing from biotech billionaire Bob Duggan". Proactive Investors. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  43. 1 2 "The man who gave Scientology $360 million actually answered the phone". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  44. ↑ Investor's Business Daily (2015-01-02). "At Pharmacyclics, Employees Train To Become Geniuses". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 2021-02-06.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  45. ↑ "Foundation Leadership". giving.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  46. ↑ "Leadership Recognized". The UCSB Current. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  47. ↑ "New Billionaire Watch: Three Things To Know About Bob Duggan's Philanthropy". Inside Philanthropy. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  48. ↑ "Here Are The Billionaires Who Donated To Donald Trump's 2020 Presidential Campaign". Forbes. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  49. ↑ "Robert W. Duggan". IEE | UC Santa Barbara. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  50. ↑ "About Bob". Duggan Investments. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  51. ↑ "Alum Robert Duggan receives Narayanamurti Entrepreneurial Leadership Award". UCSB College of Engineering. 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  52. ↑ "A perplexing tale about Bob Duggan, the richest Scientologist in the world « The Underground Bunker". tonyortega.org. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  53. ↑ "Robert Duggan". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  54. ↑ Pollack, Andrew (2015-03-06). "AbbVie Wins Bidding War for Maker of Cancer Drug, Then Goes on Defensive (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  55. ↑ Dolan, Kerry. "The Forbes 400 - The Definitive Ranking of the Wealthiest Americans in 2020". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.