Benjamin M. Rosen
Benjamin "Ben" M. Rosen is the former chairman and former acting chief executive officer of Compaq and a co-founder of Sevin Rosen Funds.
Early life
Rosen was born to a Jewish family in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 11, 1933, to Isadore and Anna Rosen. Rosen's father was a dentist and his mother was a secretary. "Benji" as he was called, was the youngest of his parents' three children.He received a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology in 1954, and M.S. from Stanford University in 1955, and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 1961.
Career
He worked on Wall Street for 15 years, ending his career as a Senior Technology Analyst and Vice President at Morgan Stanley.Sevin Rosen Funds
Rosen co-founded the venture capital company Sevin Rosen Funds in 1981 with L. J. Sevin. In this capacity, Rosen invested in Compaq Computer Corporation in 1981, eventually serving as Chairman for 18 years. For four months in 1999, Rosen also served as Acting CEO. Rosen talks about his experience with Compaq in the 2016 documentary film Silicon Cowboys.As a financier, Rosen backed high tech startup companies including Electronic Arts, Lotus Development, Ansa Software and Silicon Graphics.
In 1985, at age 52, he was described as "a late bloomer who has had five careers" and "chairman and general partner" of the fund.