Midas List Identifies 15 VCs With 15-Plus Appearances as U.S. Venture Assets Reach $1.38 Trillion
Updated
Updated · Forbes · May 27
Midas List Identifies 15 VCs With 15-Plus Appearances as U.S. Venture Assets Reach $1.38 Trillion
1 articles · Updated · Forbes · May 27
Only 15 venture capital investors have appeared on the Midas List at least 15 times over its 25-year history, marking a small group with unusually durable startup-picking records.
Vinod Khosla spans the list’s full arc—from topping the inaugural 2001 ranking on networking bets to backing OpenAI in 2019; the AI company was last valued at $852 billion.
Sequoia Capital stands out in the all-time tally with four affiliated investors on the ranking, underscoring the firm’s long-running dominance in Silicon Valley venture investing.
The list traces how venture capital expanded from a far more local industry in 2001, when U.S. funds managed $262 billion, into a global market enabled by cloud and infrastructure advances.
U.S. venture funds now manage $1.38 trillion, chasing outcomes from unicorns and companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic even as the asset class has collectively lagged public markets.
With SpaceX's IPO valuation debated by trillions, are investors buying a revolution or just astronomical hype?
As AI demands a $7.6 trillion buildout, is the real gold rush now in hardware, not software?
U.S. Venture Capital Transformed: $330B AI-Driven Investment, Mega-Deal Concentration, and the Rise of New Tech Hubs (2025-2026)
Overview
In early 2026, the U.S. venture capital market experienced a major transformation, marked by robust capital deployment and evolving market dynamics. While public markets remained subdued, private investment—especially in early-stage funding—grew substantially. This growth was driven by a dramatic acceleration in capital deployment, but investment became increasingly concentrated, largely due to the overwhelming influence of artificial intelligence. As a result, a backlog of privately held companies emerged, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges facing investors and startups in a rapidly changing and AI-dominated venture landscape.