Forbes Midas List

Forbes' annual ranking of the 100 venture investors with the strongest recent track records, scored on exits and private-company markups in their portfolios. It is the most widely cited individual-investor league table in venture capital and is often used as shorthand for a partner's standing.

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Forbes Midas List

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Editions

Edition	Published	Top of the list	On record
2026	May 27, 2026	Vinod Khosla	100
2025	May 27, 2025	Alfred Lin	100
2024	June 4, 2024	Alfred Lin	100
2023	May 4, 2023	Neil Shen	100
2022	April 12, 2022	Chris Dixon	100
2021	April 13, 2021	Alfred Lin	100
2020	April 14, 2020	Neil Shen	100
2019	April 2, 2019	Neil Shen	100
2018	April 3, 2018	Neil Shen	100
2017	April 18, 2017	Jim Goetz	100
2016	March 23, 2016	Jim Goetz	100
2015	March 25, 2015	Jim Goetz	100
2014	March 26, 2014	Jim Goetz	100
2013	May 8, 2013	Jim Breyer	100
2012	May 2, 2012	Jim Breyer	100
2011 Method changed	April 6, 2011	Jim Breyer	100
2009	January 29, 2009	L. John Doerr	10 of 99
2008	January 24, 2008	L. John Doerr	10 of 100
2007	January 25, 2007	Michael Moritz	5 of 100
2006	January 24, 2006	Michael Moritz	10
2005	January 26, 2005	L. John Doerr	10 of 100
2004	January 29, 2004	Promod Haque	10
2003	January 30, 2003	Vinod Khosla	10
2002	2002	Not recorded	At the publisher
2001	February 19, 2001	Vinod Khosla	1 of 100

How the ranking works

Since 2011 the list has been compiled with TrueBridge Capital Partners from investor submissions, public exit data and Forbes research. For the 2026 list, a deal counts if the portfolio company went public or was acquired at a valuation of $200 million or more in the past five years, or is still private and has at least doubled in value since the investor's entry to $400 million or more. Only investments from formally closed funds with outside limited partners count, and up to two investors can share credit per deal.

Scores combine deal value (exit size or private valuation) and deal count, weighted toward recent deals, earlier-stage entry and higher multiples. Realized exits that return cash to limited partners count more than unrealized gains. Submitted portfolio data stays confidential, and exact weights are not published.

Before 2011 Forbes ranked dealmakers on first-day IPO market value or acquisition price for technology and life sciences companies, plus surveys of several hundred to about 1,000 professionals, and the early lists included bankers, lawyers and angels.

Ranked positions: Each item has a position (1, 2, 3), with ties allowed. Investors or firms submit deal data free of charge through submitmidasdata.com (2026 deadline January 30, 2026), and TrueBridge also uses public exit data. TrueBridge is a venture fund-of-funds investor, so the data partner has commercial ties to some ranked firms.

Read the publisher’s methodology

How far to trust it

Superscout grades every ranking on six criteria, each scored 0 to 2. Forbes Midas List scores 8 of 12, grade B.

Transparency 1/2: Eligibility thresholds and factors are published, but not the weights or scores.
Independence 1/2: Free submissions, but the data partner is a fund-of-funds with ties to ranked firms.
Evidence 2/2: Based on exits, valuations and deal counts that can largely be checked.
Stability 1/2: Major break in 2011, a missing 2010 edition and periodic threshold changes.
Coverage 1/2: Global but limited to a top 100 drawn partly from submissions.
Track record 2/2: 25 editions since 2001.

History

The first list ran in the February 19, 2001 Forbes issue (top 50 in print, 100 online). Early editions ranked dealmakers broadly, including bankers such as Michael Grimes and lawyer Lawrence Sonsini; Forbes later wrote that Midas became a pure VC list by 2006. No list appeared in 2010; Forbes announced its revival in December 2010 and has partnered with TrueBridge Capital Partners since the 2011 edition, which is the main method break.

Since then Forbes has added spin-offs: Midas List Europe (2017), the Midas Seed List (2022) and the Midas Brink List of rising investors. The list has become steadily more international, with Chinese, Israeli and European investors in the top ranks. The 2026 list, led by Vinod Khosla, was billed as the 25th edition.

How it is received

Tech journalist Kara Swisher called the list the 'Oscars for venture capitalists in tech' (quoted on Wikipedia's Midas List page), and firms routinely publicize their partners' placements. Forbes itself has aired industry complaints, for example in 'Top Gripes Of The Midas List, 2012 Edition' (Tomio Geron, May 2012), and The Next Web reported in 2012 that the list 'draws attention, criticism'.

Common critiques are that it rewards unrealized markups in hot markets, depends on what investors choose to submit, credits individuals for firm-level outcomes, and relies on a data partner (TrueBridge) that invests in venture funds. The pre-2011 lists were survey-heavy and US-centric, a point summarized in secondary encyclopedic sources.

Strengths

Uses deal-level exit and valuation data rather than reputation votes.
Long run of annual editions since 2001 allows tracking of investors over time.
Credits individual partners, not just firms.
Free to submit, with no pay-to-play component.

Weaknesses

Exact weights and underlying submissions are confidential.
Unrealized private valuations can lift investors in frothy markets.
Depends partly on investor submissions, so non-submitters may be under-credited.
Data partner TrueBridge has commercial relationships with venture firms.
2011 method change and the 2010 gap break comparability with earlier lists.

Open questions

Facts not verified yet. They stay visible so they are not mistaken for settled facts.

2002 edition: leader, date and list not found online; existence inferred from Forbes' edition numbering (12th annual in 2013, 25th in 2026, no 2010 list).
A 2016 Forbes article says Michael Moritz spent six straight years (2006 to 2011) at No. 1 or No. 2, which would imply a 2010 list; Forbes' own numbering and the December 2010 'bringing back' article indicate no 2010 edition. Treated as no 2010 edition.
Grokipedia claims Robert Kagle led the 2002 list; not verified, so not used.
2004 to 2009 firm affiliations were not shown on the Forbes landing pages; 2009 firms come from VentureBeat and some describe current roles, not firms.
2006 list size not confirmed (the landing page summary mentioned a top 25 detail view).
Firm names in the Forbes API may reflect the affiliation stored at the time of each list; a few are blank (2017, 2018). TrueBridge PDFs for 2015 to 2025 could be used to cross-check.
2023 publication date is taken from the API list date (May 4, 2023) rather than a press release.
Methodology article 'The Midas List Formula' (May 27, 2026) returned HTTP 403, so weights were summarized from the submission-call article and the TrueBridge site.

Superscout describes Forbes Midas List independently from the publisher’s own pages and outside coverage, linked below. The rankings belong to Forbes.

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Sources and known limits

Last reviewed Sep 23, 2026.