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

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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