T imothy C. "Tim" Draper is an American venture capitalist and a prominent and often eccentric figure in Silicon Valley. He is a third-generation venture capitalist; his father and grandfather were also pioneers in the industry. He is the founder of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), which later evolved into Draper Associates and the Draper Venture Network. He is known for his early and successful investments in a number of transformative technology companies.

Draper's most famous and fortune-making investments include being an early backer of the internet communications company Skype, the Chinese search engine Baidu, and the electric car manufacturer Tesla. He is also one of the earliest and most vocal and evangelistic investors in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In 2014, he famously purchased nearly 30,000 bitcoins that had been seized by the U.S. Marshals from the illicit Silk Road marketplace. His successful early-stage bets and his massive, early investment in Bitcoin are the primary sources of his billion-dollar fortune.