Marc Andreessen
Co-creator of the first graphical web browser and co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz.
Last updated
via Wikipedia: Marc Andreessen · see source
Marc Andreessen co-founded Netscape, the first successful commercial web browser, and later co-founded the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[1][2] Donald Trump gained Andreessen as an advisor during 2024.[3]
Life and work
He moved to California and met Jim Clark, who believed Mosaic had commercial possibilities.[4] They founded Mosaic Communications Corporation, which became Netscape Communications.[4] He co-founded Opsware (originally Loudcloud), which Hewlett-Packard acquired for $1.6 billion in 2007.[5][6] Andreessen co-founded and chaired Ning, which was sold to Mode Media in 2011.[7]

After viewing the ViolaWWW browser, Andreessen collaborated with Eric Bina to develop the Mosaic web browser, which saw its release in 1993.[8] Because the NCSA declined to acknowledge the Mosaic team's work, Andreessen departed the center in 1994.[9] Andreessen gained widespread recognition following Netscape's 1995 initial public offering and subsequently featured on Time's cover.[10] AOL purchased Netscape for $4.3 billion in 1999, after which Andreessen assumed the role of chief technical officer.[11]

The venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz was publicly launched by Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in 2009.[2]
What the cited sources add
The Centre for Computing History notes that Netscape's IPO in 1995 propelled Andreessen into the public's imagination.[4] The Mozilla Blog states that Mosaic, released on January 23, 1993, was the first browser with blue hyperlinks.[12] CNBC reports that Andreessen Horowitz launched a $2.2 billion crypto-focused fund in 2021 and a $4.5 billion fund in 2022.[13][14] TechCrunch describes the American Dynamism fund launched in 2023, which backs hard tech sectors serving national interest.[15]
References
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Marc Andreessen", Centre for Computing History; Peitz, "The Oxford Handbook of the Digital Economy", OUP USA, August 23, 2012, p. 8; Brandt, "One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com", Penguin, October 27, 2011, p. 42; Bidgoli, "Electronic Commerce: Principles and Practice", Academic Press, 2002, p. 31; Abbate, "Inventing the Internet", MIT Press, July 24, 2000 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wong Kromhout, "Ben Horowitz MS '90", Alumni Profiles; Wong Kromhout, "Ben Horowitz MS '90", Alumni Profiles; Maney, "Marc Andreessen puts his money where his mouth is", Fortune Magazine, July 6, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Tech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreessen says universities will 'pay the price' for DEI", The Washington Post, July 12, 2025 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Marc Andreessen", Centre for Computing History. facts only, no text reused. computinghistory.org.uk
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Venkat, "Loudcloud: Early light on cloud computing", Business Tech News (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martens, "HP Buying Opsware in $1.6 Billion Deal", PC World (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Andreessen, "Merging Glam and Ning", Marc Andreessen's Blog (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Calore, "April 22, 1993: Mosaic Browser Lights Up Web With Color, Creativity" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Keen, "The Internet Is Not the Answer", Open Road + Grove/Atlantic, September 1, 2018, p. 20 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Netscape's Marc Andreessen", Time, February 19, 1996; Steve Hamm, "The Education of Marc Andreessen", Businessweek, April 13, 1998; Alan Levenson (photo credit), "04/13/19 Cover Story", Businessweek, April 13, 1998 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Marc Andreessen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "AOL Names Andreessen CTO"; "1999 Young Innovators Under 35: Marc Andreessen, 28", MIT Technology Review, 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Blanchard, "Why are hyperlinks blue?", The Mozilla Blog, August 26, 2021. facts only, no text reused. blog.mozilla.org
- Rooney, "Andreessen Horowitz launches $2.2 billion crypto fund and is 'radically optimistic' despite price fluctuations", CNBC, June 24, 2021. facts only, no text reused. cnbc.com
- Rooney, "Andreessen Horowitz raises $4.5 billion crypto fund to take advantage of bargains in down market", CNBC, May 25, 2022. facts only, no text reused. cnbc.com
- Alamalhodaei, "a16z's American Dynamism team launches program to introduce technical minds to VC", TechCrunch, May 21, 2024. facts only, no text reused. techcrunch.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Marc Andreessen (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Pioneers And Innovators
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Marc Andreessen (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced
