Ken Goldman

Ken’s Biography

Ken Goldman is the President of Hillspire, LLC, a family office based in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2006, Hillspire primarily focuses on investments in publicly traded securities, private equity, real estate, and alternative assets, as well as aviation and maritime activities.

Throughout a professional career spanning over four decades, Ken has served as Chief Financial Officer of multiple public and private companies and has played a significant role in guiding three companies as they went public. He has held a range of director, committee, and advisory roles at more than 40 corporate boards. During his service as a board member, more than ten companies have gone public. Ken currently serves on the boards of NXP Semiconductors, Zuora, GoPro, and the SASB Foundation.

Prior to joining Hillspire, Ken was CFO of Yahoo!, where he was responsible for the company’s global finance functions. During his five-year tenure at Yahoo!, he led a range of financial and advisory functions, including financial planning and analysis, strategy, tax and treasury policy, controllership, and... Ken Goldman is the President of Hillspire, LLC, a family office based in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2006, Hillspire primarily focuses on investments in publicly traded securities, private equity, real estate, and alternative assets, as well as aviation and maritime activities.

Throughout a professional career spanning over four decades, Ken has served as Chief Financial Officer of multiple public and private companies and has played a significant role in guiding three companies as they went public. He has held a range of director, committee, and advisory roles at more than 40 corporate boards. During his service as a board member, more than ten companies have gone public. Ken currently serves on the boards of NXP Semiconductors, Zuora, GoPro, and the SASB Foundation.

Prior to joining Hillspire, Ken was CFO of Yahoo!, where he was responsible for the company’s global finance functions. During his five-year tenure at Yahoo!, he led a range of financial and advisory functions, including financial planning and analysis, strategy, tax and treasury policy, controllership, and investor relations. Previously, Ken served as CFO at Fortinet, Inc., a cybersecurity company specializing in intrusion prevention and endpoint security, and Siebel Systems, Inc., a CRM applications firm.

Outside of the business world, Ken is on the board of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, one of the world’s most renowned human rights and social justice organizations. He is on the Harvard Business School California Research Center Advisory Board and served a three-year term on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB’s) Standing Advisory Group (SAG). Ken previously was a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University from 2005 to 2013 and was subsequently designated as Emeritus Trustee.

Ken holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. READ MORE VIEW LESS

Ken’s Newsfeed

TechCrunch

RentCheck raises $2.6M in seed funding to help renters get their security deposits back

Ken Goldman, President of Hillspire LLC, is an investor in RentCheck, an automated property inspection platform that has raised $2.6 million in seed money.

Ken’s Background

Hillspire LLC

Fmr. President

2018 - 2023

Menlo Park, CA, USA

Hillspire is an integrated family office management company serving all the activities of Eric and Wendy Schmidt, including The Schmidt Family Foundation, the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and Schmidt Futures, and supporting 350+ employees worldwide.

Yahoo! Inc

Chief Financial Officer

Jan 2012 - Jun 2017

San Francisco, CA, USA

Ken was responsible for Yahoo!'s global finance functions, including financial planning and analysis, controllership, tax, treasury and investor relations.

View all Hide

Current Board Positions

Cornell University

Board of Trustees

Ithaca, NY, USA

Cornell University is a private, Ivy-league research university that provides an exceptional education for undergraduates and graduate and professional students. Pursuant to the university bylaws, the Board of Trustees is vested with 'supreme control' over the university, including all of its colleges and other units.

Deep Space Biology

Advisory Board | Senior Financial Advisor

Aug 2023 - Present

San Francisco, CA, USA

Deep Space Biology is the 1st company in the world to bridge both space and earth biological discoveries aimed to improve human health and increase life longevity.

Monsoon Blockchain

Advisory Board

Apr 2020 - Present

Palo Alto, CA, USA

Monsoon Blockchain is a block-chain based decentralized protocol that aims to construct a worldwide storage and cloud optimization network.

Fortinet

Board of Directors

2020 - Present

Sunnyvale, CA, USA

Fortinet delivers broad, integrated, high-performance security across the IT infrastructure, provide top-rated network & content security and secure, access products that share intelligence.

Technology Executive Council Advisory Board

Board Member

New York, NY, USA

The Technology Executive Council, in conjunction with CNBC, leads ongoing high-priority discussions about employing breakthrough technologies to solve problems and power growth while addressing the challenges presented by these innovations.

RingCentral

Board of Directors

Belmont, CA, USA

RingCentral is a publicly-traded provider of cloud-based communications and collaboration solutions for businesses.

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

Foundation Board of Directors

San Francisco, CA, USA

The SASB Foundation is responsible for the financing, oversight, administration and appointment of the SASB Standards Board.

Zuora

Board of Directors

San Mateo, CA, USA

Zuora is the leading Subscription Economy® evangelist. It provides the only SaaS platform that automates all subscription order-to-revenue operations in real-time for any business.

NXP Semiconductors NV

Non-Executive Director | Nominating and Governance Committee

2010 - Present

Eindhoven, NL

NXP enables secure connections and infrastructure to create a smarter world and to advance solutions that make lives easier and safer. NXP is the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications.

GoPro

Board of Directors

2013 - Present

San Mateo, CA, USA

GoPro makes cameras, drones, apps and accessories to help its customers capture life as they live it.

View all Hide

Previous Board Positions

Gigamon

Board of Directors

Santa Clara, CA, USA

Gigamon is the market leader in network visibility solutions which is changing the way people see, control and contextualize traffic across physical, virtual and cloud networks.

TriNet

Board of Directors | Audit Committee Chair

2009 - 2020

Dublin, CA, USA

TriNet provides HR expertise tailored to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses throughout a wide range of industries across the United States.

View all Hide

Previous Advisory Roles

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

Standing Advisory Group

Jan 2015 - Dec 2017

Washington, DC, USA

The PCAOB is an organization that provides advice on the need to formulate new or change existing accounting standards.

Financial Accounting Standards Board

Primary Advisory Group

Dec 1999 - Dec 2003

Norwalk, CT, USA

The Financial Accounting Standards Board was set up in 1973 and is the independent, private-sector, not-for-profit organization, that establishes financial accounting and reporting standards for public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations that follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Philanthropy

RFK / Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Board of Directors

New York, NY, USA

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, founded in 1968, is led by human rights activist and lawyer Kerry Kennedy and advocates for a more just and peaceful world. Working alongside local activists to ensure lasting positive change in governments and corporations, the RFK team includes leading attorneys, advocates, entrepreneurs and writers united by a commitment to social justice.

Media

Hillspire’s President Ken Goldman Says the Family Office is Open for Business

Mar 2021

Ken Goldman joins the ICE podcast for a masterclass on finding success as a CFO, his prediction for what lies ahead for the economy in 2021, and the important philanthropy and investment roles that family offices provide.

In Conversation with Kenneth Goldman, President at Hillspire

WSJ Tech Live 2020

Oct 2020

As part of The Wall Street Journal's 2020 virtual Tech Live event, Nasdaq's Joshua Machiz speaks to Kenneth Goldman, President of Hillspire, about how the company is adapting in the wake of COVID-19.

View all Hide

Awards & Recognition

Cornell University

Emeritus Trustee

Ithaca, NY, USA

Cornell is an Ivy League research University, privately endowed and a partner of the State University of New York.

Speaking Engagements

Investor Capital Expo

Featured Speaker

Aug 2023

Redmond, WA, USA

Presented by Keiretsu Forum, the Investor Capital Expo is the premier gathering of the investor capital community, bringing together investors and entrepreneurs looking for funding.

24th Annual Stanford Directors' College

Panel Member

Jun 2018

Palo Alto, CA, USA

Ken Goldman was part of a panel titled 'Rethinking Executive Compensation Strategy'. The panel provided experienced directors with additional tools and insights to engage in more effective strategic thinking and execution on matters of executive compensation. The panel also discussed the latest trends in compensation and best practices for compensation committee process.

Ken’s Education

Harvard Business School

MBA

1972 - 1974

Cornell University

BS Electrical Engineering

1967 - 1971

Fmr. President

Hillspire LLC

Atherton, US

Ken’s Biography

Ken’s Newsfeed

Ken’s Background

Current Board Positions

Previous Board Positions

Previous Advisory Roles

Philanthropy

Media

Awards & Recognition

Speaking Engagements

Ken’s Education

Company

Legal

Follow The Marque