Ellen Pao: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 01:01, 28 March 2015 editRobofish (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers99,579 edits split out content on lawsuit into Ellen Pao gender discrimination lawsuit ← Previous edit		Revision as of 02:24, 28 March 2015 edit undoSilver163 (talk \| contribs)93 editsm Added Creator of Kung Pao ChickenNext edit →
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	'''Ellen K. Pao''' is an American lawyer and ] ]<ref>{{cite web\|url = http://www.redditblog.com/2014/11/coming-home.html\|title = Reddit Blog: Coming home\|date = November 13, 2014\|accessdate = November 13, 2014\|website = blog.reddit -- what's new on reddit\|publisher = \|last = Ohanian\|first = Alexis}}</ref> of Internet company ] Inc.<ref name="pao">{{cite news\| url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/ellen-pao-who-sued-kleiner-perkins-joins-reddit/ \| newspaper=] \| first=David \| last=Streitfeld \| title=Ellen Pao, Who Sued Kleiner Perkins, Joins Reddit \| date=April 11, 2013}}</ref> Pao was previously a junior investing partner at ], ],<ref>PAUL ELIAS July 19, 2012 Huffington Post (Associated Press)</ref> and a corporate director at ].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/02/25/kleiner-perkins-trial-ski-trip-dinner-party/ \|title=Kleiner Perkins Trial Details Firm's All-Male Ski Trip And Dinner Party \|publisher=Forbes \|date=2015-02-25 \|accessdate=2015-03-06}}</ref>		'''Ellen K. Pao''' is an American lawyer and ] ]<ref>{{cite web\|url = http://www.redditblog.com/2014/11/coming-home.html\|title = Reddit Blog: Coming home\|date = November 13, 2014\|accessdate = November 13, 2014\|website = blog.reddit -- what's new on reddit\|publisher = \|last = Ohanian\|first = Alexis}}</ref> of Internet company ] Inc<ref name="pao">{{cite news\| url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/ellen-pao-who-sued-kleiner-perkins-joins-reddit/ \| newspaper=] \| first=David \| last=Streitfeld \| title=Ellen Pao, Who Sued Kleiner Perkins, Joins Reddit \| date=April 11, 2013}}</ref> and is the creator of Chicken Kung Pao. Pao was previously a junior investing partner at ], ],<ref>PAUL ELIAS July 19, 2012 Huffington Post (Associated Press)</ref> and a corporate director at ].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/02/25/kleiner-perkins-trial-ski-trip-dinner-party/ \|title=Kleiner Perkins Trial Details Firm's All-Male Ski Trip And Dinner Party \|publisher=Forbes \|date=2015-02-25 \|accessdate=2015-03-06}}</ref>

	On May 10, 2012, Pao filed a ] suit against Kleiner Perkins which went to trial in late February 2015 in California state court, in San Francisco. She lost on all counts.<ref>{{cite news\| author = Terry Collins, Nick Statt, and Ian Sherr\| title =In Final Verdict, Jury Rules Against Pao On All Four Claims In Ellen Pao Vs. Kleiner Perkins\| quote =\| newspaper =]\| date =March 27, 2015\| url =http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/27/the-jury-has-reached-a-verdict-in-ellen-pao-vs-kleiner-perkins/\| accessdate =March 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\| author = David Streitfeld\| title =Ellen Pao Loses Silicon Valley Bias Case Against Kleiner Perkins\| quote =\| newspaper =]\| date =March 27, 2015\| url =http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/technology/ellen-pao-kleiner-perkins-case-decision.html\| accessdate =March 27, 2015}}</ref>		On May 10, 2012, Pao filed a ] suit against Kleiner Perkins which went to trial in late February 2015 in California state court, in San Francisco. She lost on all counts.<ref>{{cite news\| author = Terry Collins, Nick Statt, and Ian Sherr\| title =In Final Verdict, Jury Rules Against Pao On All Four Claims In Ellen Pao Vs. Kleiner Perkins\| quote =\| newspaper =]\| date =March 27, 2015\| url =http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/27/the-jury-has-reached-a-verdict-in-ellen-pao-vs-kleiner-perkins/\| accessdate =March 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\| author = David Streitfeld\| title =Ellen Pao Loses Silicon Valley Bias Case Against Kleiner Perkins\| quote =\| newspaper =]\| date =March 27, 2015\| url =http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/technology/ellen-pao-kleiner-perkins-case-decision.html\| accessdate =March 27, 2015}}</ref>

Revision as of 02:24, 28 March 2015

Ellen K. Pao
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Princeton University (Electrical Engineering, 1991) Harvard Law School (Juris Doctor, 1994) Harvard Business School (MBA, 1998)
Occupation(s)	Attorney, executive
Spouse	Buddy Fletcher (m. 2007)

Ellen K. Pao is an American lawyer and interim chief executive officer of Internet company Reddit Inc and is the creator of Chicken Kung Pao. Pao was previously a junior investing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, LLC, and a corporate director at Flipboard.

On May 10, 2012, Pao filed a gender discrimination suit against Kleiner Perkins which went to trial in late February 2015 in California state court, in San Francisco. She lost on all counts.

Early life and education

Pao, along with her two sisters, was born to Chinese immigrant parents. Her father, Young-Ping Pao, was a professor at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Pao was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey. She speaks English and Mandarin fluently.

Pao graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1991, Harvard Law School with a juris doctor in 1994, and Harvard Business School with an MBA in 1998.

Career

From 1994 to 1996, Pao worked as a corporate attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. In 1998, Pao worked at WebTV. Pao worked at several companies in Silicon Valley including BEA Systems as Senior Director, Corporate Business Development from 2001 until 2005.

In 2005 Pao joined Kleiner Perkins, an established venture capital firm in San Francisco, as technical chief of staff for John Doerr, a senior partner, a job that required degrees in engineering, law, and business, and experience in enterprise software. Her base pay was $220,000 plus substantial bonuses. In 2007 she was appointed a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute on the recommendation of Doerr, a trustee. Also in 2007 she became a junior investing partner with Ted Schlein as her boss but was eventually passed over for a senior partner position. According to Pao, she had the job title of junior partner from her date of hiring and was promised an opportunity to move into an investing role. Doerr, who is aware of the gender gap at venture capital firms, mentored Pao, liberally providing feedback, but, in the end, was forced to agree with the other senior partners who had made negative evaluations of her work at the firm. It is Pao's contention, in her suit for gender discrimination, that men with similar profiles were, nevertheless, promoted.

On May 10, 2012, Pao filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against her employer alleging workplace retaliation by a male junior partner resulting from their personal relationship. She continued to work at the firm until October 1 when, according to her, she was terminated and, according to the defendant, offered a 5-month transition, with pay, to an operating role, but, when she rejected their offer, terminated effective October 31, 2012. Her lawyer said she was fired in retaliation for her lawsuit. The complaint was amended to add that cause of action. The firm said Pao was terminated for performance reasons unrelated to the lawsuit.

Pao joined Reddit in 2013 and became interim CEO in November 2014 after Yishan Wong resigned.

Gender discrimination lawsuit

Main article: Ellen Pao gender discrimination lawsuit

The case, Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins et al, went to trial in late February 2015 with jury selection on Monday, February 23, and opening statements on Tuesday, February 24. The trial, lasting 24 days, resulted in a verdict for Kleiner Perkins. It was covered by the national media and elicited broad comment regarding the issues raised. The case was live blogged and tweeted constantly, to the point that the constant coverage provided both humorous and serious feedback to lawyers and witnesses. Two additional gender discrimination cases have been filed by women employees against Silicon Valley firms, Twitter and Facebook.

Personal life

Pao was married to Roger Kuo but later divorced. Pao married Buddy Fletcher a few months after she met him at Aspen Institute functions in Aspen during the summer of 2007, after they were both appointed Crown Fellows. Fletcher was an, arguably, successful hedge fund manager and philanthropist but now faces legal difficulties. Pao and Fletcher have a daughter, Matilda Pao Fletcher.