Larry Sonsini: The Lawyer Behind Silicon Valley’s Famous Innovators

Voices of Santa Clara Podcast

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Elon Musk are just three of the names that Larry Sonsini has advised.

Larry Sonsini is the founding partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Silicon Valley’s premier law firm, founded in 1961. Sonsini personally worked with legendary companies including Sun Microsystems, Intel, Google, HP, LinkedIn, Netflix, Salesforce, Dropbox, Twitter and hundreds more. Sonsini is the vice chair of Santa Clara’s Board of Trustees.

Larry Sonsini is the founding partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Silicon Valley’s premier law firm founded the 1961. Sonsini personally advised founders like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Elon Musk, and has worked with Sun Microsystems, Intel, Google, HP, LinkedIn, Netflix, Salesforce, Dropbox, Twitter and hundreds more. Sonsini is the vice chair of Santa Clara’s Board of Trustees.

Sonsini got his undergraduate and J.D. from UC Berkeley in the 1963 & `66, and has focused on

corporate law, corporate governance, securities, and mergers and acquisitions. He has been instrumental in many of the financings, IPOs, mergers, acquisitions, and other key transactions of Silicon Valley and beyond. Fun fact: Sonsini’s son Matthew is married to the sister, Lisa, of previous guest John M. Sobrato.

A 2006 NY Times profile called Sonsini, “Powerful, but rarely center stage. While Mr. Sonsini is hardly a shrinking violet, he cultivates the image of Silicon Valley’s most ubiquitous supporting player, often preferring to say his lines behind the scenes. ‘It’s not my job to be in the newspapers,’ he said in a telephone interview. ‘I think my clients like me to be a trusted adviser with a high degree of integrity and stay out of the limelight.’”

In this conversation, we discuss what Sonsini has learned about leadership from the CEOs he worked with, what innovations he believes will define the future, the ethics of entrepreneurship, the history and trajectory of Silicon Valley, how he chooses how to spend his time, and his advice for students.

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