No. 340Canada
David Cheriton
Google · Palo Alto, California
Net worth
$10.5B
Today
+$126M+1.22%Past month
−$120M−1.14%As of Nov 11, 2026, 1:50 PM EST
"Professor Billionaire" David Cheriton, who is professor emeritus at Stanford University, made his fortune thanks to an early investment in Google. Cheriton and Andreas von Bechtolsheim (also now a billionaire) each invested $100,000 in Google when it was just getting started. The pair cofounded 3 companies: Arista Networks (IPO in 2014), Granite Systems (sold to Cisco in 1996) and Kealia (sold to Sun Microsystems in 2004). Cheriton resigned from Arista's board in 2014. Cheriton became chief data center scientist at Juniper Networks after the acquisition of his company Apstra in 2021.
Net worth over time
−1.14%−$120M over the past month
$11B$10B$10B
Oct 12Nov 11
Principal holdings
2 positions| Company | Industry | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
Private and other holdings | Technology | 83.1% | $8.7B |
Arista Networks NYSE: ANET | Technology | 16.9% | $1.8B |
Also known for
- Cheriton, who is frugal in his personal life, is the third of six children of two Canadian engineers who grew up during the Great Depression.
- Cheriton still lives in the Palo Alto home he's owned for 30 years and cuts his own hair.
“I feel like I've been very fortunate in investing, but I still have the brain of a scrounger in terms of spending money.”