Antonio Gracias is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer of Valor Equity Partners, a leading growth-focused private equity firm in the United States with approximately $26 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2024. Antonio purchased his first company in 1995 and has over 25 years of experience in private equity investing, with a particular focus on companies developing and benefiting from emerging and transformative technologies.
Across industries and sectors, Antonio is recognized as an impactful and thoughtful contributor to business strategy and operations. Notably, Antonio was a Director of Tesla from 2007 to 2021. During his tenure, he helped take Tesla public and served as Lead Independent Director for eight years. In addition to his work at Tesla, Antonio plays an important role in helping numerous Valor investments innovate and succeed, including serving on the boards of directors of, among others, Space Exploration Technologies, Eight Sleep, K Health, WEKA, and Zipline and serving as a board observer of Anduril Industries.
Antonio also is an advocate for the potential of artificial intelligence and leads Valor’s efforts to identify and invest in companies utilizing AI. Antonio’s interest in AI extends back to the 1990s, when as an entrepreneur he pioneered the use of vision systems to automate quality controls. Valor’s portfolios, which have a significant exposure to companies using AI, reflect his continued interest, first expressed through Antonio’s investment in DeepMind in 2013 and, recently, with xAI.
Antonio has a distinguished history of working with academic, nonprofit, and public institutions. Antonio is a trustee of The Aspen Institute, a member of the board of visitors of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a member of the board of visitors of the University of Chicago Law School. Additionally, he is a member of the board of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and a member of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees. In 2015, Antonio was appointed to the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship Program, chaired by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. He is a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow, an Aspen Institute program designed to engage the next generation of leaders in the challenge of community spirited leadership.
Antonio holds a joint B.S. and M.S.F.S. (Honors Degree) in International Finance and Economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He also studied corporate structures and economic development at Waseda University in Tokyo. Prior to completing his Masters, Antonio returned to Japan as a Nikko Securities Fellow. Antonio holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.