Claims

2,653 claims by 33 public figures and organisations, checked against the public record. Each has its quote, source, verdict and evidence. Read them without a key; browse by person.

6,750 claims · page 58 of 68

6,750 claims, sorted by newest said. Choose a claim to read it in full.
VerdictPersonKindSaidClaimTopic
Mixed Jeremy Grantham Factual 3 Dec 2012 Hurricane Sandy helped several climate-change-denier congressmen lose their seats in the 2012 election. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · 3 Dec 2012 Other global risks
Resolved true Jeremy Grantham Factual 3 Dec 2012 GMO is solvent and has stayed in business. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · 3 Dec 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Prediction 3 Dec 2012 There will be slow, steady progress, but Grantham does not think "we'll make it"; he did not say what "making it" would mean. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · 3 Dec 2012 Other global risks
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Prediction 3 Dec 2012 The US started drilling thousands of wells over the last five years, and will never drill as many wells in a year as it did in 2012. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · 3 Dec 2012 Economics and markets
Mixed Jeremy Grantham Factual 3 Dec 2012 GMO has modeled momentum and value as two key variables for 33 years. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · 3 Dec 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual 3 Dec 2012 Grantham has assumed a 0.2% boost to growth from fracking over 18 years, forecasting up to 2030. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · 3 Dec 2012 Economics and markets
Not yet due Jeremy Grantham Prediction 3 Dec 2012 The growth boost from fracking will peak at about 0.5%, fairly quickly, within a forecast running to 2030. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · 3 Dec 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Prediction 3 Dec 2012 Because drilling activity has peaked, fracking will help economic growth less in future than it has so far. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · 3 Dec 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Prediction 3 Dec 2012 If methane clathrates start entering the atmosphere, release might continue even if all industrial activity were stopped the next day. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · 3 Dec 2012 Other global risks
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual 3 Dec 2012 GMO called the US housing bubble perfectly, warning loudly on the way up. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · 3 Dec 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual 3 Dec 2012 US GDP grew about 3.4% a year for 100 years to about 1985, and two thirds of the time stayed within one standard deviation (+/-2.5%) of trend. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · 3 Dec 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Prediction 3 Dec 2012 Grantham said he thinks "we" will pay a very, very high price. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · 3 Dec 2012 Other global risks
Resolved true Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 Steven Pinker's academic credentials are as an experimental psychologist. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 Rates of violence have not fallen to zero, so there is always enough violence to fill the news, making subjective impressions diverge from statistics. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Science and research methods
Resolved true Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 Statistical studies using regression analyses have tried to turn correlations into causal stories by measuring putative causes of war at one time and the incidence of war at a later time. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Science and research methods
Unresolvable Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 Steven Pinker is not a historian by training. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 Since 1945 big, rich, developed countries have not waged war on each other. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 The European wars of religion were proportionately as destructive as, probably more destructive than, World War I. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 The increase in affluence came in the nineteenth century with the Industrial Revolution. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Economics and markets
Mostly false Steven Pinker Factual 1 Nov 2012 Social science had a reputation for banality and lost prestige funding to fields like neuroscience. Steven Pinker · Factual · 1 Nov 2012 Science and research methods
Not yet due Rodney Brooks Prediction 18 Sep 2012 Over the next twenty years no one will mistake a robot for a person, but people will interact and collaborate with robots, which will become as common in daily life as search engines are today. Rodney Brooks · Prediction · 18 Sep 2012 Technology
Unresolvable Rodney Brooks Prediction 18 Sep 2012 Robots will understand tasks in terms of the objects, places and people involved rather than as a series of simple motions, and so will show simple forms of common sense. For example, if a person takes a dish from a robot that is carrying it to the dishwasher, the robot will stop heading to the dishwasher and go back to the dining table for the next dish. Rodney Brooks · Prediction · 18 Sep 2012 AI capabilities
Unresolvable Rodney Brooks Prediction 18 Sep 2012 As a result of collaborative robots like Baxter, American manufacturers and workers will be more competitive on the global stage. Rodney Brooks · Prediction · 18 Sep 2012 AI, the economy and work
Unresolvable Rodney Brooks Prediction 18 Sep 2012 Robots will become cheaper and more adaptive to their surroundings, and people will find it unsurprising to train a robot for a new task in a few minutes. Rodney Brooks · Prediction · 18 Sep 2012 Technology
Resolved true Vinod Khosla Factual 9 Sep 2012 Vinod Khosla recently read Ben Austen's WIRED article about Steve Jobs. Vinod Khosla · Factual · 9 Sep 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Vinod Khosla Factual 9 Sep 2012 At Sun Microsystems, the founders split founder equity evenly, each receiving single-digit percentages, despite their different roles, and it worked out well. Vinod Khosla · Factual · 9 Sep 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 The first complex states depended on brutal coercion rather than spontaneous cooperation. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Resolved true Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 When attacks involve lethal risks, men in tribal societies tend to desert or avoid fighting unless shamed or physically punished, as in Mathew and Boyd's study of Turkana warfare. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mixed Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 Competition among modern states has not been an impetus for altruistic cooperation. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mixed Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 People willingly confer large benefits on strangers at small cost to themselves, because it may start a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Unresolvable Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 Human loyalty is instinctively triggered by those likely to share genes and is extended to others through manipulations. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Resolved true Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 Pinker said he has argued that the concept of group selection has no useful role to play in psychology or social science. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 Individual bodies are not passed down through generations the way genes are. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Science and research methods
Mixed Steven Pinker Factual 18 Jun 2012 In tribal warfare among non-state societies, men do not regularly take high lethal risks for the group; pitched battles have few casualties and real combat is by raids and ambushes. Steven Pinker · Factual · 18 Jun 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mostly false Peter Thiel Factual 15 Jun 2012 A Chinese man tried to launch a rocket into space in the 11th century. Peter Thiel · Factual · 15 Jun 2012 Technology
Unresolvable Peter Thiel Prediction 15 Jun 2012 There is a compelling case that extraordinary or accelerated technological progress will very likely occur in the decades ahead. Peter Thiel · Prediction · 15 Jun 2012 Technology
Unresolvable Tyler Cowen Factual Jun 2012 Cowen's NY Times column explicitly states he will not address whether state and local spending should have been cut. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Jun 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Tyler Cowen Factual Jun 2012 Cowen has repeatedly argued in various forums that the US is spending and borrowing too much. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Jun 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Jensen Huang Factual May 2012 CUDA had been downloaded 1.5 million times by 2012, up from 150K in 2008. Jensen Huang · Factual · May 2012 Technology
Mixed Jensen Huang Factual May 2012 Kepler is the world's first GPU for cloud computing. Jensen Huang · Factual · May 2012 AI compute, hardware and data
Mostly true Jensen Huang Factual May 2012 The Tesla K20 offers 3x double precision performance (baseline not stated). Jensen Huang · Factual · May 2012 AI compute, hardware and data
Delivered on time Jensen Huang Promise May 2012 NVIDIA will make the Tesla K20 available in Q4 2012. Jensen Huang · Promise · May 2012 Their own work or organisation
Resolved true Jensen Huang Factual May 2012 With Hyper-Q, Kepler supports 32 concurrent work queues versus one on Fermi. Jensen Huang · Factual · May 2012 AI compute, hardware and data
Mostly true Jensen Huang Factual May 2012 NVIDIA's Kepler SMX delivers three times the energy-efficient performance of the Fermi SM. Jensen Huang · Factual · May 2012 AI compute, hardware and data
Mostly true Jensen Huang Factual May 2012 The Tesla K10 offers 3x single precision performance and 1.8x memory bandwidth (the slide does not state the baseline for comparison). Jensen Huang · Factual · May 2012 AI compute, hardware and data
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 In his 1998-1999 survey, over 99% of about 1100 analysts and portfolio managers believed there would be a major bear market, with only 7 voting that the P/E would not go back to 17. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's benchmark-free allocation strategy would have been badly beaten by aggressive portfolios during the 2000 tech bubble. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's Benchmark-Free Allocation Strategy did very well over the past decade because its big asset class bets won. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's Global Asset Allocation Strategy returned 5.4% net of fees with volatility of ±9.2% a year, 20% less than its benchmark. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 Robert Shiller's "fair value" series assumed perfect foresight of all future dividends. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Economics and markets
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 Grantham said that his firm's not following the crowd in the late-1990s market, when P/E ratios reached 33 times in early 1999, was uncomfortably beyond the tolerance of about 40% of its clients. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Promise Apr 2012 Ben Inker, leader of GMO's asset allocation group, will take up the role of covering the broad investment outlook in the quarterly letters. Jeremy Grantham · Promise · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Prediction Apr 2012 Career risk and the resulting herding are likely to always dominate investing. Jeremy Grantham · Prediction · Apr 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 In his 1998-1999 survey of about 1100 equity professionals, every respondent agreed that S&P P/E falling from 28-35 to 17 would guarantee a major bear market. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Economics and markets
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's asset allocation brainstorming team grew from 4 to 25 members over the five years to April 2012. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's calls on the Japan 65 P/E market and the 2000 U.S. tech bubble were 2 to 3 years early. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's allocation process has always depended on Ben Inker's portfolio management skills, particularly sizing and risk control. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 Keynes explained that to keep your job you must never, ever be wrong on your own. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Philosophy, ethics and society
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO could sign no clients to its benchmark-free allocation approach until 2001. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 GMO's estimate of standard client patience time has been 3.0 years in normal conditions. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 Ben Inker has led GMO's asset allocation group for more than 10 years. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Own records only Jeremy Grantham Factual Apr 2012 Grantham said he believes that this strategy, like roughly 90% of GMO's long-only strategies relative to their benchmarks, takes considerably less real risk. Jeremy Grantham · Factual · Apr 2012 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Prediction 9 Feb 2012 Buffett predicts that over any extended period, the equity-type investment category he favours will be by far the safest of the three major investment categories. Warren Buffett · Prediction · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Not yet due Warren Buffett Prediction 9 Feb 2012 Buffett said he was confident that, over the century, the $9.6 trillion current valuation of pile A will compound at a rate far inferior to that achieved by pile B. Warren Buffett · Prediction · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Factual 9 Feb 2012 At a gold price of $1,750 per ounce at the time of writing, the world's gold stock is worth about $9.6 trillion. Warren Buffett · Factual · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Factual 9 Feb 2012 An individual taxed at an average 25% earning 5.7% on Treasury bills over 47 years would have had zero real income after taxes and inflation. Warren Buffett · Factual · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Mostly true Warren Buffett Factual 9 Feb 2012 Berkshire holds significant amounts of currency-based investments, primarily short-term ones. Warren Buffett · Factual · 9 Feb 2012 Their own work or organisation
Resolved true Warren Buffett Factual 9 Feb 2012 The world's gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. Warren Buffett · Factual · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Prediction 9 Feb 2012 Buffett said he believes that over any extended period, investing in businesses, whether owned in their entirety or through sizable holdings of marketable stocks, will prove to be the runaway winner among the three investment categories he examined. Warren Buffett · Prediction · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Factual 9 Feb 2012 Over the past century, these instruments destroyed the purchasing power of investors in many countries even as interest and principal were paid on time. Warren Buffett · Factual · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Prediction 9 Feb 2012 The destruction of investors' purchasing power by these instruments will forever recur. Warren Buffett · Prediction · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Warren Buffett Factual 9 Feb 2012 A tax-free institution would have needed 4.3% annual interest from bond investments over the period described, during which it came to take $7 to buy what $1 had bought, simply to maintain its purchasing power. Warren Buffett · Factual · 9 Feb 2012 Economics and markets
Resolved true Nate Silver Factual 2012 In a 2012 interview, Nate Silver described himself as being somewhere between a liberal and a libertarian. Nate Silver · Factual · 2012 Their own work or organisation
Resolved true Steven Pinker Promise 10 Nov 2011 Steven Pinker's next book project will be a style manual for the 21st century, a competitor to Strunk and White incorporating modern linguistics and cognitive science. Steven Pinker · Promise · 10 Nov 2011 Their own work or organisation
Resolved true Steven Pinker Factual 10 Nov 2011 Cognition and language are Steven Pinker's research specialty. Steven Pinker · Factual · 10 Nov 2011 Their own work or organisation
Mixed Steven Pinker Factual 10 Nov 2011 Every category of violence, from war deaths to spanking of children to films harming animals, has declined. Steven Pinker · Factual · 10 Nov 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 10 Nov 2011 Great powers and developed countries have stopped going to war, and worldwide deaths in warfare may be at an all-time low. Steven Pinker · Factual · 10 Nov 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Unresolvable Steven Pinker Prediction 10 Nov 2011 Institutionalized violence that can be eliminated by the stroke of a pen, such as capital punishment, criminalization of homosexuality, callous treatment of farm animals and corporal punishment in schools, will continue to decline. Steven Pinker · Prediction · 10 Nov 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Unresolvable Steven Pinker Factual 10 Nov 2011 During the millennia humans spent as hunter-gatherers, the average rate of violent death was higher than in the worst years of World War II and about five times the rate of death from all wars, genocides and human-made famines in the 20th century. Steven Pinker · Factual · 10 Nov 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mixed Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 Death rates from war and homicide today are a fraction of what they were in previous decades and centuries. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Unresolvable Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 Many kinds of violence have decreased in frequency. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 The Old Testament is filled with genocides commanded by God, the lives of the saints with gory torture, and medieval knights were bloodthirsty warlords. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mixed Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 Homicide in the US, war in Africa, rape, spousal abuse, child abuse, spanking and hate crimes have all declined since records were first kept. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 War is in decline all over the world, as argued in Joshua Goldstein's Winning the War on War. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Other global risks
Resolved true Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 Steven Pinker is a professor who teaches psychology classes and conducts research on language and the human mind. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Their own work or organisation
Mostly true Steven Pinker Factual 6 Oct 2011 Until recently, people brought whole families to watch heretics being burned, broken on the wheel, or disemboweled. Steven Pinker · Factual · 6 Oct 2011 Philosophy, ethics and society
Resolved true Tyler Cowen Factual Oct 2011 The novel Eyes of God is about intrigue and Indonesia. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Oct 2011 Other
Resolved true Tyler Cowen Factual Oct 2011 Eyes of God is a novel by Philip Babcock, an economist at UC Santa Barbara. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Oct 2011 Other
Resolved true Tyler Cowen Factual Oct 2011 John Blundell's Ladies of Liberty contains biographical sketches of libertarian and libertarian-themed women in U.S. history. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Oct 2011 Other
Resolved true Tyler Cowen Factual Oct 2011 Ladies of Liberty includes Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Patterson, Rose Friedman, Jane Jacobs and others. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Oct 2011 Other
Unresolvable Tyler Cowen Factual Oct 2011 Tyler Cowen got bored of the new Eugenides novel by page 200. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Oct 2011 Other
Unresolvable Tyler Cowen Factual Oct 2011 Joshua Gans wrote about the book in two posts, the latter linking to Michael's TEDx talk. Tyler Cowen · Factual · Oct 2011 Other
Mixed Marc Andreessen Factual 20 Aug 2011 As of 2011, Amazon was the world's largest bookseller. Marc Andreessen · Factual · 20 Aug 2011 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Marc Andreessen Factual 20 Aug 2011 As of 2011, Google was the largest direct marketing platform. Marc Andreessen · Factual · 20 Aug 2011 Economics and markets
Mixed Marc Andreessen Factual 20 Aug 2011 As of August 2011, major public technology companies had all-time low price/earnings ratios. Marc Andreessen · Factual · 20 Aug 2011 Economics and markets
Mostly true Marc Andreessen Factual 20 Aug 2011 Skype, the fastest growing telecom company, was just bought by Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Marc Andreessen · Factual · 20 Aug 2011 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Marc Andreessen Prediction 20 Aug 2011 Andreessen expected that over the next 10 years many more industries would be disrupted by software, with new world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing the disruption in more cases than not. Marc Andreessen · Prediction · 20 Aug 2011 Technology
Unresolvable Marc Andreessen Prediction 20 Aug 2011 In Andreessen's view, health care and education are next up for fundamental software-based transformation. Marc Andreessen · Prediction · 20 Aug 2011 Technology
Unresolvable Marc Andreessen Prediction 20 Aug 2011 The trend toward hybrid and electric vehicles will accelerate the shift of cars to software control. Marc Andreessen · Prediction · 20 Aug 2011 Technology
Unresolvable Marc Andreessen Prediction 20 Aug 2011 If the new software companies perform as expected, they will become highly valuable cornerstone companies in the global economy, addressing markets far larger than tech has historically pursued. Marc Andreessen · Prediction · 20 Aug 2011 Economics and markets
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Vinod Khosla

Open its page

Factual Their own work or organisation

“At Sun, we split founder equity evenly and in single digits despite our different roles, and it worked out well.”

Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, essay author 9 September 2012 TechCrunch: Do You Need to be a Jerk to be a Successful Entrepreneur? (Khosla Ventures)

At Sun Microsystems, the founders split founder equity evenly, each receiving single-digit percentages, despite their different roles, and it worked out well.

Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.

Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.

What would count as true or false

There are three parts about Sun Microsystems' founders: (a) founder equity was split evenly, (b) each founder held single-digit percentages, and (c) the arrangement worked out well. True: histories, filings (for example Sun's IPO prospectus) or founder accounts confirm an even split among the founders at single-digit percentages each, and Sun succeeded. Mostly true: the founders' stakes were roughly equal and in single digits, with small differences. Mixed: one of the two equity facts (even split or single digits) holds and the other does not. Mostly false: stakes were clearly unequal and only some were in single digits. False: stakes were clearly unequal and not in single digits.

Evidence

  1. Vinod Khosla and Sam Altman on how much equity to give your first 10 employees Startup Archive · 5 June 2024 Own record
    “I think among the first three or four founders at Sun, we kept less than half of the common. The total was something like 25-27% for the founders, an equal or slightly larger chunk for everybody else we would hire”
  2. Sun Microsystems' Pioneering Co-Founder Gives A Rare Interview - with Scott McNealy - Business Podcast for Startups Mixergy · 30 December 2014
    “So, my percentage ownership of Sun was very, very tiny.”
  3. Sun Microsystems Is Blazing a Red-Hot Trail in Computers : $300-Million AT&T; Deal Moves Firm to Set Sights on IBM Los Angeles Times · 31 January 1988
    “In less than six years, it has grown from the classic Silicon Valley start-up firm to a nearly $1-billion-a-year company”
  4. Sun Microsystems' Pioneering Co-Founder Gives A Rare Interview - with Scott McNealy - Business Podcast for Startups Mixergy · 30 December 2014
    “So, my percentage ownership of Sun was very, very tiny.”
  5. Sun Microsystems' Pioneering Co-Founder Gives A Rare Interview - with Scott McNealy - Business Podcast for Startups Mixergy · 30 December 2014
    “Except the good news was he also invested in Sun Microsystems, so we made millions on that and lost $100,000 on the Data Dump.”
  6. SCHEDULE 14A / DEFINITIVE PROXY SOLICITATION MATERIAL, Sun Microsystems Inc. (filed 1999-02-11) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · 11 February 1999
    “Scott G. McNealy(1)..................................... 8,527,110 2.20%”
  7. Sun Microsystems - Wikipedia Wikipedia
    “On February 24, 1982, Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Vinod Khosla, all Stanford graduate students, founded Sun Microsystems.”
  8. Sun Microsystems - Wikipedia Wikipedia
    “On April 20, 2009, it was announced that Oracle would acquire Sun for US$7.4 billion, or US$5.6 billion net of Sun's cash and debt.”

Reasoning

The only evidence on how founder equity was divided is Khosla's own account (E1). He puts the founders' combined stake at about 25-27% across three or four founders, which suggests single-digit stakes but does not say how the equity was split between them. McNealy's description of his stake as "very, very tiny" (E2/E4) and his 2.20% holding in the 1999 proxy (E6) come from much later, after dilution, and do not show the original founder split or whether it was even. Sun's growth and its acquisition by Oracle (E3, E8) bear on the "worked out well" part, but no independent source or filing confirms an even, single-digit split.

Cite this claim

Vinod Khosla, “At Sun Microsystems, the founders split founder equity evenly, each receiving single-digit percentages, despite their different roles, and it worked out well.” (said 9 September 2012). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_d8345c9d86eb, method 0.1.0+c876030c. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_d8345c9d86eb

Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts and scores are made. The same data is on Hugging Face under CC BY 4.0.