In one of the most consequential leadership changes in venture capital, Sequoia Capital has replaced its global leader, Roelof Botha, handing control to longtime partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady. The move, first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed in a public letter on LinkedIn from Botha describing the pair as Sequoia’s “new stewards,” comes after a turbulent two years that tested the firm’s culture, credibility, and cohesion.

Botha joined the firm after helping take PayPal public in 2002 as its finance chief, and he became managing partner in 2022 after leading Sequoia through its complex global split into independent entities in China and India. Now he is stepping aside from his leadership role amid a period of heightened internal strain. Earlier this year, the firm’s chief operating officer, Sumaiya Balbale, resigned following a public controversy over partner Shaun Maguire’s Islamophobic tweets—an episode that exposed deep cultural divides and the firm’s decision to not speak publicly on issues of bias and accountability.

What might once have been dismissed as a PR flare-up evolved into a governance test for venture capital—one that even the most disciplined partnership structure couldn’t contain.

For decades, Sequoia defined Silicon Valley’s mythology: the disciplined, founder-friendly kingmaker behind Apple, Google, Airbnb, and Stripe. Its success was rooted as much in operational rigor as in the aura of quiet power cultivated by leaders like Don Valentine and Michael Moritz.

But in recent years, that mythology has begun to crack. The firm’s 2023 decision to separate its global arms into HongShan (China) and Peak XV Partners (India and Southeast Asia) fractured its once-unified brand. Behind the scenes, Sequoia faced the same pressures as many of its portfolio companies: geopolitical risk, culture wars, and the moral complexity of managing global money in an age of polarization.

The Maguire controversy was a breaking point. When the firm declined to publicly address a partner’s tweets widely perceived as Islamophobic—tweets targeting New York State Assemblyman and New York City Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani—it triggered an internal debate about Sequoia’s values. Balbale, one of the highest-ranking Muslim women in venture capital, quietly exited soon after. The episode, and Sequoia’s silence, became a symbol of how elite institutions struggle when the performance of returns eclipses the practice of principle.

(Author’s note: For deeper analysis of this controversy, see my prior Forbes article on Sequoia’s moral reckoning. Botha didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Sequoia stated that it doesn’t comment on personnel issues.)

By elevating Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, Sequoia appears to be returning its center of gravity firmly to the U.S. Lin, known for his operational precision and close relationships with founders such as Brian Chesky of Airbnb, and Grady, recognized for his analytical discipline, represent both continuity and containment. Their appointment signals a pragmatic move: stabilize the firm, reassure LPs, and reset the public narrative after months of turbulence.

Botha’s tenure was defined by globalization and consolidation. Lin and Grady inherit an era of fragmentation and scrutiny. Their first challenge will not be identifying the next breakout founder, but restoring the partnership’s internal confidence—and its external moral credibility.

While Sequoia has framed the leadership change as a planned transition, the timing suggests urgency. This is not a moment of victory but of vulnerability: a recalibration in the face of political, reputational, and cultural risk. The Financial Times described Sequoia’s latest moves as “a defining test of culture for the world’s most powerful venture firm.”