Steve Case

Steve Case is one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and a pioneer in making the Internet part of everyday life.

For the past 20 years, Steve’s focus has been on starting and scaling Revolution, the Washington D.C.-based investment firm that backs entrepreneurs at every stage of their development and makes strategic investments in real estate and hospitality.

Revolution has invested nearly $2 billion in companies including Anduril, Sweetgreen, CAVA, Tempus, DraftKings, and CLEAR.  The firm has maintained a particular focus on backing entrepreneurs outside of traditional tech hubs like Silicon Valley. Through its Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Revolution has invested in more than 200 startups across over 100 U.S. cities, in partnership with many of America’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors.

Revolution’s real estate and hospitality arm, Revolution Places, includes ownership of Exclusive Resorts, a luxury residence club and community; Punta Cacique, a wellness-focused development in Costa Rica anchored by the country’s first Waldorf Astoria; and significant land holdings in Hawaii, including Maui Land & Pineapple and Grove Farm.

Steve’s entrepreneurial career began in 1985 when he co-founded America Online (AOL). Under Steve’s leadership, AOL became the world’s largest and most valuable Internet company, driving the worldwide adoption of a medium that has transformed business and society. AOL was the first Internet company to go public, and the best performing stocks of the 1990s, delivering a 11,616% return to shareholders. At its peak, nearly half of Internet users in the United States used AOL. In 2000, Steve negotiated the largest merger in business history, bringing together AOL and Time Warner in a transaction that gave AOL shareholders a majority stake in the combined company. To facilitate the merger, Steve agreed to step down as CEO when the merger closed.

Steve’s passion for helping entrepreneurs remains his driving force. As Co-chair of the National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Council advised on the development of a National Entrepreneurship Strategy and policies that will ensure America’s competitiveness globally. In 2011, he was the founding chair of the Startup America Partnership— an effort launched at the White House to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation – and member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness where he chaired the subcommittee on entrepreneurship.

Steve has been a leading voice in shaping government policy on issues related to entrepreneurship, working across the aisle to advance public policies that expand access to capital and talent. He was instrumental in passing the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, the Investing in Opportunities Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and is active in advocating on behalf of immigration reform and legislation that supports and accelerates the emergence of startup ecosystems in rising cities.

Steve also served as the Chair of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex. In this role, Steve led the Board of Regents’ efforts to increase the Institution’s reach, impact and relevance.

Steve is also Chairman of the Case Foundation, which he established with his wife Jean in 1997. Together the Cases have invested in hundreds of organizations, initiatives and partnerships with a focus on leveraging the Internet and entrepreneurial approaches to strengthen the social sector.

In 2010, Steve and Jean joined The Giving Pledge, and publicly reaffirmed their commitment to give away the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

Steve is also the author of bestselling books Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream and The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future.

Steve was born and raised in Hawaii and retains active ties to his home state, but has lived in the Washington D.C. area for more than 30 years.