A few longtime names of Iconiq Capital's client list are public knowledge: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg chief among them.īut the majority of that elite roster remains as secretive as the rest of Iconiq's operation and is viewed internally as two sometimes overlapping groups from which the firm's name is derived: 'Icon' and 'IQ.' Icons are 'titans of industry,' the 'visionaries' at the top of their field, possibly billionaires.

Are you an Icon or an IQ?Īt Iconiq, multimillionaires come in two flavors.ĭivesh Makan's top-tier network of the rich, famous, and impeccably connected has its roots in Silicon Valley. Iconiq Capital declined to comment on the record. Insider is also mapping dozens of clients key to Iconiq's success and publishing extensive nonpublic data from its signature tech investment funds, showing exactly how and where Iconiq made its billions. The interviews and information offer the most comprehensive look yet at how the secretive firm has won and lost big-name clients, why it's branched out from the family office business, and which growing pains have accompanied a firm that invests in and supports other 'rocketship' enterprises. Insider talked to more than a dozen Iconiq insiders, obtained confidential fund documents, reviewed public filings, and spoke with others in the industry to learn the story of Makan and Iconiq's rapid rise to Silicon Valley preeminence.

'If you think 'The Wizard of Oz,' he wants to be the guy behind the curtain that nobody sees.

'He wants to be the most influential person in the world,' one former colleague said of Makan. Membership in this super-exclusive club means access to a world of private deals, business connections, and VIP privileges made possible because of the stature of Iconiq's client roster - a feedback loop that strengthens the value of the Iconiq network and provides the fuel for Makan to grow the firm. In its short life, Iconiq has expanded from the basics of family-office activities to a dizzying array of investment arenas, from venture capital to real estate, that now verge on overshadowing its original business.Īt the center of it all is the remarkable network of money and power, carefully curated by Makan. By leveraging an early connection to Facebook's founding team, the South African-born businessman transformed himself from a rising star wealth manager at Morgan Stanley into a free-wheeling counselor to billionaires, responsible for $40 billion in funds under management.Īs Iconiq Capital has ballooned, its ambitions have too. Over the past decade, Makan has quietly built an unrivalled network of billionaire and celebrity clients through his high-end wealth-management firm, Iconiq Capital. Other celebrities have had far more success. (A spokesperson for West declined to comment.) An initial meeting between the two went nowhere, and in subsequent conversations with his employees, the Iconiq founder was dismissive of West, whose frequent tabloid appearances and brushes with controversy had the potential for a public-relations risk. Makan's standards are exacting, however, and Yeezy didn't make the cut. At stake for West was admission to Silicon Valley's most exclusive club: Iconiq Capital. The two were brought together as a result of Makan's constant drive to expand his network of clients, a list that includes Mark Zuckerberg and Tom Hanks. It was an unusual pairing: Makan, a disarming, strong-willed investor with a world-class Rolodex and a commitment to absolute discretion, and West, a maximally bombastic and unrestrained rapper whose life has played out almost entirely in the public eye. Kanye West failed to impress Divesh Makan.

Iconiq has invested billions of dollars in top startups, documents obtained by Insider show.

It caters to the elite of the technology industry and is now quietly recruiting A-list celebrities.

Divesh Makan has spent a decade building ultra-secretive wealth-management firm Iconiq Capital.

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