Moritz Baier-Lentz

Last updated
Moritz Baier-Lentz
Moritz baier-lentz omr podcast.png
Moritz Baier-Lentz in 2023
Born
Moritz Baier

(1986-01-20) January 20, 1986 (age 38)
Hanover, Germany
NationalityFlag of Germany.svg  Germany, Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Education Stanford University (M.B.A, M.A.)
Employer(s) Lightspeed Venture Partners, World Economic Forum, Goldman Sachs, IBM
Board member of1047 Games
The Believer Company
Gardens Interactive
Inworld AI
k-ID
Methodical Games
Volley
SpouseAlissa Baier-Lentz
Website gaming.lsvp.com

Moritz Baier-Lentz is a German-American venture capitalist. He is a partner and the head of gaming at Lightspeed Venture Partners, [1] leading the firm's investments in gaming and artificial intelligence applications in interactive media, including agentic simulations in video games and generative media creation. [2]

Contents

Previously, Baier-Lentz was a vice president in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs, where he founded and led the firm's global gaming practice. [3] A former #1 ranked competitive player of Diablo II, [4] he has invested over $100 million [5] into entrepreneurs who have led the creation of video games like Fortnite, [6] Call of Duty, [7] League of Legends, [8] [9] Halo, Destiny, Overwatch, Valorant, [10] Apex Legends, Sky, [11] StarCraft II, and Warcraft III. [12]

Awards and professional memberships

In 2016 and 2017, Baier-Lentz was regarded by Forbes (U.S.) and Capital (Germany) as one of the most influential finance professionals in their 30 Under 30 and 40 Under 40 lists, respectively. [13] [14] In 2017, he joined the German-American Atlantik-Brücke [15] and in 2023, he was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum [16] and invited to participate as a delegate in the 54th Annual Meeting in Davos. [17] Baier-Lentz holds an MBA and M.A. from Stanford University, and graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar. [18]

Early life and education

Baier-Lentz grew up as a first-generation high school graduate in rural Germany [19] and spent his teenage years playing Blizzard Entertainment’s multiplayer action role-playing game Diablo II, culminating in a global #1 ranking among 13 million active players in 2003. [20] He used a combination of proceeds from virtual goods sales [19] [21] and German national academic merit scholarships from Studienstiftung and DAAD to help finance his undergraduate and graduate studies. [22]

Career

Investment banking

After starting his career as a data scientist at IBM, [1] Baier-Lentz joined Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, and founded and led the firm's global gaming practice. [23] During his tenure as vice president, he advised gaming and technology corporations on over $300 billion in transaction volume across mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, venture capital, and other strategic transactions, including Dell's $67 billion acquisition of EMC and IBM’s $34 billion purchase of Red Hat. [12]

Venture capital

BITKRAFT Ventures

Baier-Lentz went on to become a partner and management team member at BITKRAFT Ventures, [24] where he scaled the firm to approximately $850 million in assets under management and to become the most active gaming lead investor in 2020, 2021, and 2022 [12] before joining Lightspeed.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

After setting up Lightspeed's gaming and interactive media practice in early 2023, Baier-Lentz elevated the firm to become the largest set of funds with a dedicated sector focus (investing from over $6.5 billion of early- and growth-stage capital) [25] and the most impactful lead investor in gaming in 2023 and 2024; having led rounds of aggregated $162 million [26] and $170 million [27] across both years, respectively.

Gaming industry

CEO Forum and Lightspeed Advisory Council

Baier-Lentz hosts the annual CEO Forum at the Game Developers Conference with Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, and Sony—an "off-the-record gathering for the CEOs of the world's largest gaming and interactive media companies." Previous attendees have included Sarah Bond (President of Xbox), Jason Citron (founder and CEO of Discord), Walter Driver (founder and Co-CEO of Scopely), Frank Gibeau (CEO of Zynga), Jim Fang (President of miHoYo), Johanna Faries (President of Blizzard Entertainment), Yves Guillemot (founder and CEO of Ubisoft), John Hanke (founder and CEO of Niantic), Brendan Iribe (founder and former CEO of Oculus), Takashi Kiryu (President of Square Enix), Laura Miele (President of Electronic Arts), Michael Morhaime (founder and former CEO of Blizzard Entertainment), Michał Nowakowski (Co-CEO of CD Projekt), Haruki Satomi (CEO of Sega), Phil Spencer (CEO of Microsoft Gaming), and Strauss Zelnick (CEO of Take-Two Interactive, owner of Rockstar Games). [28]

Some of these executives are also members of Lightspeed's Advisory Council, which further includes Michael Eisner (former CEO of The Walt Disney Company), Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Uber), Bernard Kim (CEO of Match Group), and Danny Lange (SVP of Artificial Intelligence at Google). [29]

Game Changers

In partnership with Nasdaq, GamesBeat, and executive judges from the gaming and media industry, [30] Baier-Lentz founded Game Changers, a yearly initiative to highlight 25 startups across gaming, interactive media, and artificial intelligence. [31]

World Economic Forum

In his role as Young Global Leader and Davos delegate, Baier-Lentz advises the World Economic Forum on gaming, extended reality, governance aspects of artificial intelligence, and the convergence of frontier technologies. [32]

Forbes

After originally making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Finance category 2016, [33] Baier-Lentz served as a judge for the Games category in 2024. [34]

Speaking engagements

Moritz Baier-Lentz in 2024 at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. Moritz baier-lentz world economic forum davos.jpg
Moritz Baier-Lentz in 2024 at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Baier-Lentz has been featured as a speaker at the World Economic Forum, [35] Goldman Sachs, [36] Stanford University, [37] Harvard University, [38] Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [39] Axios, [40] South by Southwest, [41] Slush, [42] and the Game Developers Conference. [43]

Personal life

Baier-Lentz is an Ironman and ultramarathon runner, including the 251-kilometer long, self-sufficient Marathon des Sables [44] and the World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents within 7 days). [45] [46]

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References

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