“In any project or activity, my motto is simply, RESULTS MATTER.”
Ray is an American venture capitalist and philanthropist focused on securing energy solutions for the 21st century. Based in the Silicon Valley, his venture activities are focused on seed energy, cyber, and climate related projects.
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Rothrock has had a 25-year career at venture capital firm Venrock (1988-2013) and a tour as a CEO of cybersecurity provider RedSeal. Rothrock authored the highly regarded book Digital Resilience: Is Your Company Ready for the Next Cyber Threat? (Harper Collins Leadership, 2018.) In addition to being an energy expert, he is frequently sought out as a cyber-related director/investor. Rothrock was twice selected for the Forbes Midas List and also served as the Chair of the National Venture Capital Association.
Education
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Ray attended Texas A&M University where he earn a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, in 1977. His original interest in nuclear power began with his achieving the Atomic Energy Merit Badge in the Boy Scouts when he was sixteen. After A&M he went to MIT for graduate work. There in 1978 he completed a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering under the advisory of Prof. Mujid Kazimi. He subsequently returned to grad school and earned an M.B.A. with Distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1988.
Early Career
Rothrock joined Yankee Atomic Electric Company in 1978 as a nuclear engineer responsible for safety analysis and licensing support. After a lapse in the nuclear power industry, he moved to Silicon Valley in 1981, where Rothrock ultimately landed his first non-engineering position at a young Sun Microsystems. At Sun, he inspired engineering software companies to develop their software on the emerging Sun workstation. Venture-backed Sun went public in 1986, introducing Rothrock to the board and to the venture capital field.
Early career
Venture Capital
In 1988, Rothrock moved to New York City to Venrock Associates, the technology venture investment arm of the Rockefeller family. He lead Venrock’s strategy to invest heavily in the newly emerging Internet, with early investments Spyglass, Check Point Software Technologies, DoubleClick, and FogDog yielding dozens of public companies. In his 25 years at Venrock, Rothrock led investments in 53 early-stage technology companies, resulting in eight IPOs including CloudFlare.
Over this same period, climate concerns drove the venture industry to start investing in energy technology startups. With his nuclear energy roots Rothrock led the energy charge at Venrock, recruiting a team, setting a strategy, and driving the firm to invest in ten energy companies.
In 2014 he formed FiftySix Investments, a seed fund focused on cyber, energy, and climate entrepreneurs. With seed capital, Rothrock often assists these entrepreneurs with their Series A pitch, early strategy, and access to the extensive venture capital network. To date, FiftySix has seed positions in over fifty companies.
Today Rothrock is a member of several venture LPACs and advises other venture firms with formation and strategy. He is a venture partner with Shield Capital (Burlingame, CA) and serves on the corporate boards of Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP), Roku Inc. (ROKU), Centrus Energy (LEU), Shine Technologies, and The Aerospace Corporation (FFRDC).
“When presented with a difficult situation, I like to find a win-win solution for everyone involved.”
Philanthropy
Outside of venture capital and nuclear energy, Rothrock is a major advocate of the performing arts. He strongly believes the humanities, specifically the performance arts, are critical in maintaining a healthy society. Seeing public schools shortsightedly cut arts and music programs in the 80s and 90s convinced Rothrock to take action. His first step was to help establish a Chair in Music in the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M, his alma mater, which at the time had no music or performance program or degrees. Twenty-five years later, Texas A&M now has a School of Visual, Performance and Fine Arts, and the Rothrocks have endowed the dean’s chair for this new and expanded effort. He and his wife have furthered their efforts through many scholarships at Texas A&M, a substantial contribution to the new Music Building at MIT, and the creation of the Rothrock Performance Hall at Woodside Priory in their local community.
Nuclear Energy Advocacy
After decades of debate, Rothrock saw the energy market leaning in towards nuclear power, a known solution addressing the increasing demand for electricity while reducing environmental impact. In this spirit Rothrock, along with other venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, helped produce Pandora’s Promise, directed by Robert Stone, a 2013 documentary film supporting the case for nuclear energy. With over two million views around the world, this powerful film made a significant impact, leaving viewers eager to see an action plan.
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To develop such a plan, in early 2014 Rothrock assembled a team of over 20 experts at his home to form an action plan. Three action vectors resulted:
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Saving the existing nuclear plants and extend their operational lives
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Advocating in Washington for support for an emerging advanced nuclear reactor industry
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Providing a new regulatory framework to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the advanced reactor approvals
Ten years later, this advocacy effort has yielded real results. Today an astounding number of individuals, contributed funds, and NGOs are all committed to pursuing the vectors identified in 2014. Many nuclear plants live have been extended. And the NRC is working on updating its regulatory framework.
Philosophy
About his approach to philanthropy and business, Rothrock has this to say :
“I believe selfless service is a core component of the good in our society. To that end, I see myself as a tireless and selfless servant, a student of technology, and a stalwart supporter of the performing arts. My life of service has been inspired by my parents, members of the Greatest Generation who were involved in the community, the church, and other organizations. I’m especially committed to supporting the arts: after researching how to find balance in one’s life and learning why some societies fail, I’m convinced science and humanities must hold equal roles in the development of a person.
In business there is no substitute for good, strong leadership, executed through inspiration, not domination. I believe people want to grow and develop and need only guidance to succeed. In any project or activity, my motto is simply, RESULTS MATTER. But results must be achieved through ethical and moral means. I still believe there is right and there is wrong.”
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If I had any advice to share with others, it would be what a mentor once said to me: “It’s okay to make money and save the world at the same time.” I really think you can do both.
Personal Life
For his lifelong contributions to his alma mater Texas A&M University, Rothrock was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2016 and the Frank Malina Medallion in 2023 for contributions to economics, technology and the arts. He has also received The Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumnus award in 2015 and the MIT Nuclear Engineering Alumnus Award in 2013.
Rothrock is a Member of the Council of Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of the Nuclear Threat Initiative of Washington, D.C; the Carnegie Science Institute of Washington, D.C.; The Breakthrough Institute, Oakland, CA; and Terra Praxis, Boston, MA. In addition, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Corporation of MIT, various Visiting Committees of the Corporation, and served on its Governance and Nominations committee. Until July 2024, he served as vice-chairman of UTIMCO, Austin, TX a $70B public/private foundation for the benefit of Texas universities. During his long career, Rothrock has served on over 70 boards public, private, and philanthropic.
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Ray Rothrock is married to Meredith Rothrock. They have one son, Nathaniel, with whom Rothrock plays in a rock band, Up and to the Right -- a demonstration in part of his support for the performing arts.