Sun Co-Founder Uses Capitalism to Help Poor

Some nonprofit experts say commercial social enterprises have significant limitations and pose conflicts of interest

But Vinod Khosla draws inspiration from the astounding global growth of microfinance—the business of giving small loans to poor entrepreneurs

NYTIMES Oct 2010 | Vinod Khosla, the billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, was already among the world’s richest men when he invested a few years ago in SKS Microfinance, a lender to poor women in India.

Vinod Khosla, a billionaire venture capitalist, promotes companies that profit the poor, and still turn a profit themselves.

But the roaring success of SKS’s recent initial public stock offering in Mumbai has made him richer by about $117 million—money he says he plans to plow back into other ventures that aim to fight poverty while also trying to turn a profit.

And he says he wants to challenge other rich Indians to…

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