Parker Conrad

Early life and education Parker Conrad was born in 1980 in New York City to Ellen Rouse Conrad, a president and founder of the non-profit environmental group the Bedford 2020 Coalition, and Winthrop B. Conrad, Jr., a now retired senior partner at the New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. Growing up on the Upper East Side, Parker Conrad attended the prestigious Upper West Side preparatory school The Collegiate School, and spent nearly two years during high school studying the neurobiology of sea snails. This research ultimately won him $20,000 and third place nationally in the Westinghouse Talent Search. Despite this, Parker admits that his high school grades were generally mediocre.

In the fall of 1998, Conrad began studying at Harvard University, where he was managing editor of The Harvard Crimson. Conrad cites his time at the paper as a stressful period where, due to the time demands of the paper, he didn't go to many classes and failed out of school, an experience he describes as "humiliating and shocking". in California. After only two years of existence, the company had 1,600 employees, 10,000 customers, and a $4.5 billion valuation. In 2015, Conrad was listed as Number 20 on Fortune's 40 Under Forty list. Also in 2015, he ranked #22 on Forbes' America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 list. On 8 February 2016, Conrad resigned from Zenefits after it was discovered the company used unlicensed brokers to sell health insurance in multiple states. He also left the Zenefits board. In October 2017, without admitting or denying guilt, Conrad agreed to pay a fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges of misleading investors about regulatory compliance.

Sacks feud In the years following his ousting from Zenefits, Conrad and Sacks developed a "long-simmering feud," according to Bloomberg. Conrad has alleged that both a16z and Sacks waged a proxy war in the media to ruin his image. Saying there was immense pressure from the board for him to resign, he has also stated that he, the board, and Sacks agreed on a friendly exit, and that he was shocked when Sacks issued a different press release than the one they had agreed to. with Conrad responding that "let me tell you, coups are this man’s specialty." The exchange started a heated conversation among venture capitalists.

Rippling Six weeks after resigning from Zenefits, Conrad began working on a new company. In April 2016, he and Prasanna Sankar co-founded Rippling. With Sankar as CTO During the bank run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in 2023, Rippling's funds at SVB were frozen, making the company temporarily unable to complete payroll transactions for its customers. Conrad and Rippling raised $500 million in 12 hours to cover the paychecks, partly from investors and partly by liquidating money market funds with JPMorgan. By 2023, in total, it had raised $1.2 billion from investors such as Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia. At the start of 2025, Forbes estimated Conrad's personal wealth at $2 billion, ranking him #1623 on its 2024 Billionaires list.

Personal life Conrad and his wife Alexandra MacRae Conrad was diagnosed, treated, and cleared of testicular cancer at the age of 24.