Press Statement

Makan Delrahim Introduces Roger McNamee at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division

March 12, 2019
 

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for joining us today here in the Liberty Square Building in Washington, DC.  Fortunately, through the wonders of modern technological innovation, this speech is being broadcasted to all of the Antitrust Division’s offices.

We are excited to present our latest event that follows in the spirit of our Jackson-Nash Address series.  As many of you may remember, last year, Franklin Foer, author of “World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech,” delivered a powerful speech about the role of digitization in the global economy and its impact on competition.

Because that event was so successful, we are continuing to offer a platform (no pun intended) to a variety of speakers who are at the cutting edge of economic and policy thinking regarding the impact of digital marketplaces on competition.  Our goal is to help provoke reflection into the economic wisdom that underlies our antitrust enforcement efforts, and to ensure that we don’t lose sight of the broader trends and stake in the arc of technological change and innovation.

We are very fortunate to have a speaker today who embodies this spirit of innovation and self-reflection: Roger McNamee.

Roger has been a Silicon Valley investor for 35 years.  After graduating from Yale University and receiving his MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, he joined T. Rowe Price as an analyst in 1982.  He quickly moved up the ranks and led the firm’s Science & Technology Fund, which, under Roger’s leadership, made investments in Electronic Arts and Sybase, both of which went public in 1989 and 1991, respectively.  In 1991, Roger co-founded Integral Capital Partners alongside venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.  Integral Capital was the first “cross-over” fund, combining late-stage venture capital and public market investments in its portfolio.  In 1999, Roger was one of the founders of Silver Lake Partners, the first private equity fund focused on technology businesses.

More recently, in 2004, Roger co-founded Elevation Partners, an investment partnership focused on the intersection of media and technology, where he currently serves as Managing Director.  Elevation Partners was one of the earliest investors in Facebook, and through that relationship Roger helped mentor Mark Zuckerberg during the company’s pivotal growth stage.

Not only is Roger a shrewd investors, he is also an innovator and insightful critic into the culture that helped fuel a technological revolutions of the past several decades.  Notably, Roger holds four U.S. patents related to the live broadcast of video-to-mobile devices.  In his spare time, Roger has served as technical advisor for seasons two through five of HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” a hilarious cultural satire that always hits the mark.

In the past few years, Roger has emerged as one of the leading critics of trends in the digital economy and social media in particular.  Last month, he published “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe,” which recounts his long career in Silicon Valley, with a focus on his work alongside Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook.

Roger’s new book is deeply thought-provoking, and it is no surprise that many luminaries have lined up to sing its praises.  Our friend, Franklin Foer, writes: “Roger McNamee is truly the most interesting man in the world – legendary investor, virtuoso guitarist, and damn lucid writer.  He’s written a terrific book that is both soulful memoir and muckraking exposé of social media.”

Roger’s work should encourage us all to think carefully about the central question we consider each day as antitrust enforcers: how to protect competition while encouraging new technological innovations that benefit consumers, and, importantly, keep the American entrepreneurial spirit alive.

Please join us in welcoming Roger McNamee.