More About the Speaker
Michael Marks is a founding managing partner of Celesta Capital, a global deep tech venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley.
Prior to Celesta, Marks was a founding partner at Riverwood Capital, a private equity fund specializing in rapidly growing private companies in North America and emerging markets. He was also a partner and senior advisor at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in 2006 and 2007.
Marks spent 13 years as chairman and CEO of Flex (formerly Flextronics International Ltd.) and built the company into one of the largest technology companies in the world. As its CEO, he led Flex as it increased annualized revenues from approximately $93 million to approximately $25 billion, while establishing operations in more than 35 countries and integrating 100 acquisitions. Marks also served as interim CEO of Tesla.
Electronic Business Magazine named Marks one of the Top Ten Most Influential Executives in Silicon Valley History and CEO of the Year for 2003. He served as an adjunct professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business from 2008 to 2017.
Marks serves as a board director for more than 20 companies, including Alveo Technologies, Atonarp, Canary, Carbitex, H20.ai, The Melt, Mina Restaurant Group, Onx Homes, Percipient.ai, Prellis Biologics, Quartic.ai, Slate.ai, and WhiteRabbit.ai. He previously served as a board director for SanDisk, GoPro, and Schlumberger Limited, amongst others.
Marks earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA and MA from Oberlin College.
Moderator
Haim Mendelson is the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Professor of Electronic Business and Commerce, and Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business and director of the Value Chain Innovation Initiative.
