David Bohnett
philanthropist, technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist
David C. Bohnett (born April 2, 1956) is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social activism.
Bohnett founded the social networking site GeoCities in 1994; the highly successful site went public via an IPO in 1998, and was acquired by Yahoo in 1999. Since then he has invested in technology start-ups via Baroda Ventures, a Los Angeles–based venture capital firm he started in 1998.
Early life, education, and early career
Bohnett was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1956, and grew up in Hinsdale, an affluent Chicago suburb, with Republican parents. His father was a business executive and his mother was a preschool teacher. His sister Wendy Bohnett Campbell is a past president of the board of the Dayton Philharmonic, and his brother William is a retired corporate attorney and was on the national board of the Smithsonian Institution from 2009 to 2018.
Bohnett was interested in business at an early age, selling Amway products and delivering newspapers. In high school he became fascinated by computers, and chose to attend college at the University of Southern California – where he received a BS in business administration – because it was one of the few universities at the time with a computer science program. He put himself through college by waiting tables, guiding tours at Universal Studios, and other service jobs.
The public source identifies “David Bohnett” as philanthropist, technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around David, Bohnett and philanthropist.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “David Bohnett”, the useful work is to connect “philanthropist, technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5231513. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1956, 1994, 1998 and 1999.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “David Bohnett”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow David Bohnett primary sources, David Bohnett archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Bohnett”?
- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
- Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “David Bohnett” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.