Financing Global Decarbonization
Erik Anderson '80 P'23 is a leader in global innovation recognized throughout his career for his business acumen and leadership. As the founder and CEO of WestRiver Group (WRG), Anderson is redefining the paradigm of capital allocation with a transformative business model. The equity platform is led by gender-balanced teams, which empirical evidence suggests is correlated with better returns.
Anderson is a dynamic entrepreneur who challenges and disrupts industries. He has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, was named by Goldman Sachs as one of the Top 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs and was awarded the Transformative CEO Award by The CEO Forum Group. Early in his career, Seattle’s Puget Sound Business Journal recognized Anderson as one of the Top “40 under 40” young achievers and emerging leaders.
Anderson is CEO of several special purpose acquisition companies (Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporations) which seek to identify an impactful company with scalable solutions to decarbonize the global economy.
In March 2021, Anderson became vice chairman of Callaway Golf Company (NYSE:ELY). Prior to Callaway, he served as the executive chairman of Topgolf Entertainment Group. Under his leadership, Topgolf became one of the fastest-growing sports and entertainment brands in the world. In 2020, he was ranked by Golf Inc. as the No. 4 Most Powerful Person in the Golf Industry and was No. 3 in 2019 and 2018.
In November 2020, Anderson joined Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)as the executive chairman of the SVB Capital Credit Platform and serves as chair of the SVB capital advisory committee.
Anderson also serves as executive chairman of Singularity University, a global community using exponential technologies to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. He is also vice chairman of ONEHOPE, a cause-centric consumer brand and technology company, known for their award-winning wine and world-class vineyard in Napa, Calif. He is also co-chairman of TOCA, the world's first technology-enabled soccer experience company. Additionally, Anderson is the founder of America’s Foundation for Chess, currently serving 160,000 children in the United States with its First Move curriculum. For more than ten years he served on the Board of Play Magnus, an interactive chess app inspired by Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Chess Champion.
Anderson was on the board of Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA), an energy management company for more than sixteen years, and served as chairman of the Finance Committee for most of his tenure. His investment experience includes being partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners, CEO of Matthew G. Norton Co., and vice president at Goldman, Sachs & Co.
He holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Management Engineering from Claremont McKenna College.
Mr. Anderson is the featured parent speaker for Family Weekend 2022.