Arthur Rock (born 1926) was the first venture capitalist. He invested in Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel, Apple Computer, and numerous other high-technology companies. His investments helped create many successful Silicon Valley companies.

Arthur Rock was born in Rochester, New York, on August 19, 1926, the son of Hyman and Reva (Cohen) Rock. He earned a bachelors degree in business administration from Syracuse University in 1948 and a masters degree from Harvard in 1951.

Invented the Term 'Venture Capital'

After graduating from Harvard, Rock joined the Wall Street firm of Hayden Stone & Co., where he worked as a securities analyst in the investment banking department, underwriting new stock issues. He was quite successful at picking applied science stocks in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In discussing that time, Rock said in Charged Bodies: People, Power, and Paradox in Silicon Valley, "It was a different era; there was really no one putting together money to...