The frugal life of Stanford’s ‘professor billionaire’ David Cheriton, who helped launch Google史丹佛“億萬富翁教授”大衛·薛瑞頓的節儉生活:他曾幫助創辦GoogleWorth nearly US$18 billion, mainly from an early investment in Google, David Cheriton is famed for his modest lifestyle, including cutting his own hair and driving a 40-year-old van.史丹佛大學教授大衛·薛瑞頓,是Google的早期投資者,身價近180億美元。然而,這位教授依然過著極度節儉的生活方式,例如自己動手理髮、使用一輛已有40年歷史的面包車出行。Born in Vancouver, Canada, the Stanford University professor was the third of six children born to two Canadian engineers who grew up during the Great Depression in the 1930s. His father, Ross, recalled him as an independent, "self-sufficient" boy who avoided team sports and once built his own timber fort in the family yard away from other children. Cheriton skipped 11th grade because he found the curriculum too slow.大衛·薛瑞頓教授出生於加拿大溫哥華,是家中六個孩子中的老三。薛瑞頓的父母在20世紀30年代大蕭條時期成長,是加拿大的工程師。父親羅斯回憶稱,薛瑞頓是一個獨立、"自給自足"的男孩,他不喜歡團體運動,甚至為了與其他孩子保持距離,他曾在自家院子裡獨自用木材搭建了一個堡壘。在讀書時,薛瑞頓覺得課程進度太慢而直接跳過了11年級。"He went his own way," his father told Forbes. "We didn’t channel him."“他一直有自己的路。”他的父親對《福布斯》表示:“我們沒有刻意引導過他。”He grew up playing guitar, including classical and flamenco styles, and applied to study music at university. After being rejected by the University of Alberta, he turned to mathematics and later computer science. He got a bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia in 1973, and his master’s and PhD in computer science from the University of Waterloo, where he became a pioneer in distributed computing.他從小學習吉他,包括古典和弗拉明戈風格,並曾申請大學音樂專業。在被阿爾伯塔大學拒絕後,他轉而學習數學,後來又轉向電腦科學。他於1973年從不列顛哥倫比亞大學獲得學士學位,並在滑鐵盧大學獲得了電腦科學碩士和博士學位,在那裡他成為了分散式運算領域的先驅。In 1981 he moved to California, U.S., to teach at Stanford University. There, he combined teaching with applied research, building his own companies and investing in Silicon Valley startups that sparked his intellectual interest.1981年,他移居美國加州,在史丹佛大學任教。在那裡,他將教學與應用研究相結合,不僅創辦公司,還投資那些能夠激發他智力興趣的矽谷初創企業。"Professor Billionaire" said in a 2021 interview with Canada's Financial Post: "And I also look at who are the people involved.這位“億萬富翁教授”在2021年接受加拿大《金融郵報》採訪時說:“我會特別關注參與其中的人。”"I like the startups where there’s a technological challenge so that, you know, not every idiot can do this.“我喜歡那些具有技術挑戰性的創業項目,因為並不是所有人都能做到。”"There’s just not that many smart people in the world, in my humble opinion."“依我看,世界上真正聰明的人並不多。”Front-porch investment that made history門廊上的投資,創造歷史His most pivotal investment took place in 1998 on his own porch, when Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin approached him for help licensing their PageRank algorithm, which they believed could revolutionize internet search.薛瑞頓最關鍵的一筆投資發生在1998年,就在他家的門廊上。史丹佛博士生拉里·佩奇和謝爾蓋·布林找到他,希望獲得支援為他們的PageRank演算法申請許可,他們堅信這一演算法能徹底改變網際網路搜尋。Fresh from earning more than $20 million by selling Granite Systems, an Ethernet switching company he co-founded with German tech whiz Andy Bechtolsheim, to Cisco for $220 million, Cheriton was ready to help. He and Bechtolsheim each wrote a $100,000 check to Page and Brin, a stake now worth billions of dollars in stock, and Google Inc. was officially born. The Internet search giant has since become the dominant search engine, with Page and Brin each holding fortunes exceeding $100 billion, according to Forbes.當時,薛瑞頓剛剛通過出售自己與德國技術天才安迪·貝希托爾斯海姆共同創辦的乙太網路交換公司Granite Systems,獲得逾2000萬美元。這家公司以2.2億美元價格賣給了思科。薛瑞頓於是準備出手相助,他與貝希托爾斯海姆各自為佩奇和布林開出10萬美元支票。這筆股份如今價值數十億美元,也標誌著Google的正式誕生。據《福布斯》報導,Google此後成長為全球主導的搜尋引擎,而佩奇與布林的財富各自突破1000億美元。Before and after Google, Cheriton invested in dozens of companies. He co-founded Kealia, another networking company, which was sold to Sun Microsystems for $90 million, and Arista Networks, which went public in 2014.在投資Google前後,薛瑞頓涉足數十家公司。他共同創辦了網路公司Kealia,後以9000萬美元賣給Sun Microsystems,並聯合創立了Arista Networks,該公司於2014年成功上市。Although Cheriton credits much of his success to luck, his strategy shows otherwise. He avoids market fads, calling social networking one of them, and focuses on breakthroughs that deliver measurable improvements to life. He said he has "a belief that if you are providing real value to the world and doing it in a sensible way, then the market rewards you."儘管薛瑞頓常將自己的成功歸因於運氣,但從投資策略來看並非如此。他始終迴避市場泡沫,並認為社交網路就是其中之一。他專注於那些能為人們生活帶來實質改善的技術突破。他堅信:“如果你以理性的方式為世界提供真正的價值,市場終會回報你。”Siddharth Batra, a former student backed by Cheriton, told Forbes: "Technologists probably find it easier to share things with David since he will understand a lot more than if you go to a VC who will sort of give you a blank stare and not really understand the promise of what you’re doing."薛瑞頓曾資助的學生西達爾特·巴特拉對《福布斯》說:“技術人員可能更願意與大衛交流,因為他理解的遠比那些只會面無表情的風投更多,他能真正看懂你正在做的事情的潛力。”With an estimated net worth of $17.7 billion in 2025, Cheriton said he did not grow up wealthy and still carries what he calls a "cheap bastard" mentality. He drives a 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon, lives in the same Palo Alto home he has owned for 40 years, and cuts his own hair. "It’s not that I can’t fathom a haircut. It’s just easy to do myself, and it takes less time."截至2025年,薛瑞頓的淨資產約為177億美元。他坦言自己並非出身富裕,因此至今仍保持著他所謂的“吝嗇鬼”心態。他仍然駕駛一輛1986年的大眾Vanagon面包車,住在已居住40年的帕羅奧圖舊居,並堅持自己理髮。“並不是說我請不起理髮師,只是自己動手既方便又省時。”He has little admiration for displays of wealth. "I’m actually quite offended by that sort of thing," he told the Canadian newspaperEdmonton Journal in 2006. "These people who build houses with 13 bathrooms and so on... There's something wrong with them."他對炫耀財富極為反感。“我其實相當厭惡這種行為。”他在2006年接受《埃德蒙頓日報》採訪時表示:“那些蓋13個浴室的豪宅的人……肯定那裡出了問題。”One of his rare significant purchases was a 2012 Honda Odyssey "for the kids," according to Business Insider. He jokingly calls himself "spoiled" for occasionally taking surfing holidays in Maui, Hawaii. Asked about his only expensive passion, he replied: "Startup companies."據《商業內幕》報導,他罕有的大筆消費是在2012年為“孩子們”買了一輛本田奧德賽車。他還笑稱自己“被慣壞了”,因為偶爾會去夏威夷毛伊島衝浪度假。當被問及唯一昂貴的愛好時,他答道:“投資初創公司。”"I feel like I’ve been very fortunate in investing, but I still have the brain of a scrounger in terms of spending money."“我覺得自己在投資方面非常幸運,但在花錢上,我依然像個小氣鬼。”When Forbes approached him for a story on frugal billionaires, he cited Wikipedia’s definition of frugality: "The acquiring of and resourceful use of economic goods and services in order to achieve lasting and more fulfilling goals." "That’s certainly something I aspire to," he said.當《福布斯》計畫撰寫一篇關於節儉的億萬富翁的報導時,他引用了維基百科對節儉的定義——“通過獲取並善用經濟資源,以實現持久而更充實的目標”。他補充說:“這正是我所追求的。”Instead of luxury, Cheriton channels his wealth into the educational institutions that shaped him. He donated $25 million to the University of Waterloo, which renamed its School of Computer Science the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science in his honor. He has also made major contributions to the University of British Columbia and Stanford to fund scholarships and research.薛瑞頓不追求奢華,而是將財富投入到培養過他的教育機構。他曾向滑鐵盧大學捐贈2500萬美元,而學校為表彰他,將電腦科學學院更名為大衛·R·薛瑞頓電腦科學學院。他還為不列顛哥倫比亞大學和史丹佛大學提供了巨額捐助,用於獎學金和科研資助。In an interview for Stanford University, he described philanthropy as an investment.在接受史丹佛大學採訪時,他將慈善視作一種投資:"If you look at all the options for using one’s financial resources, I think education is the best investment. I don’t think about it in the sense of, ‘Oh, I want to help people,’" he said. "To me, it’s just a good investment for the future."他說:“如果你審視所有利用個人財務資源的選擇,我認為教育是最好的投資。我並非抱著‘哦,我想幫助別人’的想法去做這件事。對我來說,這只是對未來的一項極佳投資。”Though he avoids social media, keeps a low profile and shuns public attention, Cheriton’s journey continues to inspire entrepreneurs worldwide, showing that groundbreaking success often begins with a simple idea fueled by curiosity and a commitment to knowledge.儘管他避開社交媒體,行事低調並迴避公眾關注,但薛瑞頓的故事依然激勵著全球的創業者。他證明了:開創性的成功,往往源自一個由好奇心和求知慾驅動的簡單念頭。 (英語日語筆記)