List of companies founded by Stanford University alumni
This is a list of companies founded by Stanford University alumni, including attendees who enrolled in degree-programs at Stanford but did not eventually graduate. This list is not exhaustive, as it only includes notable companies of which the founding and development history is well recorded by reliable sources. In particular, subsidiaries are listed with their owners in parentheses.
Stanford University is one of the most successful universities in creating companies, attracting funding, and licensing its inventions to existing companies. It is often held up as a model for technology transfer. Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing is responsible for commercializing developments. The university is described as having a strong venture culture in which students are encouraged, and often funded, to launch their own companies.
According to PitchBook, from 2006 to 2017, Stanford produced 1,127 company founders as alumni or current students, more than any other university in the world; and these founders created 957 companies, second only to UC Berkeley in the world. In addition, according to a Stanford alumni survey conducted in 2011, some 39,900 companies founded by Stanford alumni were active, and companies founded by Stanford alumni altogether generated more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue and had created 5.4 million jobs, roughly equivalent to the 10th-largest economy in the world.
In this list, founders of a company which merged with other companies to form a new company are counted as founders of the new company. However, founders of a company which later dissolved into several successor companies are not counted as founders of those successor companies; this same rule applies to spin-off companies. Finally, a defunct company is a company that stopped functioning completely without dissolving, merging or being acquired.
Top companies by revenues
Fortune Global 500 (2017)
This list shows companies in Fortune Global 500 founded or co-founded by Stanford alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune Global 500 companies was $21,609M in 2016.| Company | Region | Fortune Global 500 | Revenue in US$ millions | Type | Category | Year founded | Comments | |
| 1 | Alphabet Inc. | United States | 65 | 90,272 | Public | Conglomerate | 2015 | |
| 2 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | United States | 187 | 49,247 | Public | Hardware | 1984 | |
| 3 | HP Inc. | United States | 194 | 48,238 | Public | Technology | 1939 | |
| 4 | Nike | United States | 331 | 32,376 | Public | Athletic equipment | 1964 | |
| 5 | TSMC | Taiwan | 369 | 29,388 | Public | Semiconductor | 1987 | |
| 6 | Capital One | United States | 395 | 27,519 | Public | Finance | 1988 |
Fortune 1000 (2017)
This list shows companies in Fortune 1000 founded or co-founded by Stanford alumni. The cut-off revenue for 2017 Fortune 1000 companies was $1,791M in 2016.| Company | Fortune 1000 | Revenue in millions | Type | Category | Year founded | Comments | |
| 1 | Alphabet Inc. | 27 | 90,272 | Public | Conglomerate | 2015 | |
| 2 | HP Inc. | 61 | 48,238 | Public | Technology | 1939 | |
| 3 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | 60 | 49,247 | Public | Hardware | 1984 | |
| 4 | Nike | 88 | 32,376 | Public | Athletic equipment | 1964 | |
| 5 | Capital One | 100 | 27,519 | Public | Finance | 1988 | |
| 6 | Gap Inc. | 178 | 15,516 | Public | Clothing/accessories | 1969 | |
| – | Trader Joe's* | 208 | 13,300 | Private | Grocery | 1958 | † Equivalently |
| 7 | Micron Technology | 226 | 12,399 | Public | Semiconductor | 1978 | |
| 8 | PayPal** | 264 | 10,842 | Public | Financial services | 1998 1999 | |
| 9 | Netflix | 314 | 8,831 | Public | Entertainment | 1997 | |
| 10 | Expedia | 317 | 8,774 | Public | Travel | 1996 | |
| 11 | Charles Schwab Corporation | 357 | 7,644 | Public | Finance | 1971 | |
| 12 | Nvidia | 387 | 6,910 | Public | Technology | 1993 | |
| 13 | NetApp | 468 | 5,546 | Public | Technology | 1992 | |
| 14 | Yahoo!*** | 498 | 5,169 | Acquired | Technology | 1994 | |
| 15 | Intuit | 527 | 4,831 | Public | Software | 1983 | |
| 16 | Electronic Arts | 556 | 4,396 | Public | Video game | 1982 | |
| 17 | Akamai Technologies | 851 | 2,340 | Public | Internet/technology | 1998 | |
| – | Bain & Company**** | 864 | 2,300 | Partnership | Consulting | 1973 | † Equivalently |
| 18 | Cypress Semiconductor | 959 | 1,923 | Public | Semiconductor | 1982 |
****: Bain & Company are not listed in Fortune 1000. Its revenue is provided by Forbes.