Alphonse Fletcher Jr

Born Alphonse Fletcher, Jr., on December 19, 1965, in New London, CT; son of a technician and an elementary school principal. Education: Harvard University, AB, 1987. Bear, Stearns & Co., investment manager, 1987-89; Kidder, Peabody & Co., senior vice-president, 1989-91; Fletcher Asset Management, founder, chairman, and CEO, 1991-.present. Over the years Mr. Fletcher has generated headlines more for his philanthropic activity than his Wall Street pursuits. In 1994, he donated $4.5 million to Harvard to endow the Alphonse Fletcher Sr. Professorship, a position held by Henry Louis Gates Jr. In 2004, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Mr. Fletcher pledged $50 million to institutions and individuals working to improve race relations. (The Dakota board’s concern over his finances stemmed in part from questions over whether he had made good on his philanthropic commitments, according to the lawsuit. Apart from a few hundred thousand dollars a year Mr. Fletcher gives in charitable stipends, it is unknown how much more of the $50 million he has donated.) Mr. Fletcher is married to Ellen Pao, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a leading venture capital firm. They have a two-year-old daughter and spend much time in Northern California, where Kleiner Perkins is based. Before his marriage to Ms. Pao, Mr. Fletcher lived in the Dakota with Hobart V. Folkes Jr., his partner of more than 10 years, according to a New York Times article in 2004 on Mr. Fletcher’s philanthropy.