John Kleinheinz elected to Stanford Board of Trustees

John Kleinheinz (Image credit: Eric Draper)

John Kleinheinz, CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners, has been elected to the Stanford University Board of Trustees. Kleinheinz will begin his five-year term on June 1.

“John’s strong experience in entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and innovative community investment, intertwined with his significant service to the university, will offer invaluable strategic insight and enhance the board’s ongoing work,” said board Chair Jerry Yang. “We look forward to working with him and welcome him to the board.”

Kleinheinz grew up in Oregon and earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford in 1984. “I learned how to learn at Stanford, and Stanford galvanized my intellectual curiosity,” Kleinheinz said. “I’m very excited to work with an amazing group of leaders.”

His career began in investment banking for Nomura Securities and Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, London, and New York. In 1996, Kleinheinz founded Kleinheinz Capital Partners, a global macro themed hedge fund.

Kleinheinz is also a lead investor in Texas Central, which is developing an innovative high-speed rail initiative between Dallas and Houston. “I like to be engaged in areas where I can actually get something done,” Kleinheinz said, citing environmental and public safety advantages to the project.

For years, Kleinheinz has volunteered his time and served in various roles at Stanford. He is currently chair of the Hoover Institution Board of Overseers and on the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) Advisory Board.

Kleinheinz previously served on the Humanities & Sciences Council, the Task Force on Global Studies, the Parent and Family Advisory Board, the Stanford Think Again Dallas Steering Committee, and The Stanford Challenge. He was also a 2023 fellow at Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute.

Kleinheinz has volunteered for Stanford Leading Matters Dallas and the Campaign for Undergraduate Education, and has supported Stanford undergraduate reunion campaign committees for the last 40 years. Additionally, Kleinheinz is a lifetime member of Stanford Associates in recognition of his service for the university’s Major Gifts Committee in connection with the Class of 1984.

“I have a lot of perspective on how Stanford has changed, and change is a really important concept,” Kleinheinz said. “The pace of change, how you transition, how you make those decisions, and the timing of those decisions are really critical for a complex organization like Stanford, because it’s at those points where you can really advance the university’s mission or get bogged down.”

Kleinheinz spent most of the first decade of his career overseas and said being involved with the university helped him reconnect and form lifelong relationships with many of his classmates. “The people you meet at Stanford are high quality and are involved with great endeavors,” he said. “Those are the people you want to stay engaged with over the long run.”

Kleinheinz and his wife, Marsha, have supported a wide variety of areas at Stanford, including the Hoover Institution, SIEPR, Stanford Medicine, the School of Engineering, athletics, and the arts. In addition, they have endowed multiple professorships in the School of Humanities and Sciences and at Stanford Law School, as well as established funds to support both undergraduate and graduate students.

Outside of Stanford, Kleinheinz serves as a community leader in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and on the investment committee for Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth. The Kleinheinzes are actively involved in a number of philanthropic activities, including building over 20 public charter schools for underserved families, through the Kleinheinz Family Foundation.

“Education is the lifeblood of social mobility in this country,” Kleinheinz said. “No society thrives in the long term without quality education at all levels.”

Kleinheinz and his wife have three children and numerous grandchildren. They live in Fort Worth, Texas.