Georges Frédéric Doriot (September 24, 1899 – June 2, 1987^[1]) was a French-American known for his prolific careers in military, academics, business and education.

An émigré from France, Doriot became a professor of Industrial Management at Harvard Business School and then director of the U.S. Army's Military Planning Division, Quartermaster General, during World War II, eventually being promoted to brigadier general.

In 1946, he founded American Research and Development Corporation, regarded as one of the world's two first venture capital firms, earning him the sobriquet "father of venture capitalism".

In 1957, he founded INSEAD, now one of the world's top^[2][3][4] business schools.

Doriot was born in Paris, France in 1899, to Berthe Camille Baehler and Auguste Doriot, the pioneering motorist, racer, engineer, factory manager, dealer and car manufacturer (owner of D.F.P.). Doriot joined French army in artillery in 1917 but then returned to study when World War I ended and graduated from University of Paris in 1920.^[5] He emigrated to America in 1921 to study for an MBA at Harvard Business School but dropped out for a career in Wall Street. However, in 1926 he returned to work as an assistant dean and eventually got promoted to associate professor.^[6]

He became a U.S. citizen in 1940 in order to be qualified to assume a military post created for him by a former student, Major General Edmund Gregory, as lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps and then as Director of the Military Planning Division for the Quartermaster General. In that capacity, Doriot managed all the procurement for the U.S. Army, from trucks to uniforms to rations. Doriot and his team resolved large-scale logistical problems that supplied the Allied Forces with the ammunition, nourishment, and equipment to fuel their success. He was eventually promoted to brigadier general. For his service, Doriot was awarded Distinguished Service Medal and honored as a Commander of the British Empire and with the French Legion of Honor.^[7]

As a professor at Harvard Business School, Georges F. Doriot was known for his rigorous and authoritative teaching style. His "Manufacturing" course, though ostensibly about production processes, covered a wide range of topics related to business management and strategy. Doriot's classes were primarily lecture-based, with little discussion, reflecting his belief in the importance of discipline and long-term strategic thinking. His educational philosophy emphasized the development of character and leadership, which he viewed as crucial for success in both business and life. The course, which ran from 1926 until Doriot's compulsory retirement in 1966, counted thousands of students, including some of HBS’ most high-profile graduates of the era, known as “Doriot Men,” such as Philip Caldwell (Ford Motor Co.), John Diebold (the Diebold Group), Ralph Hoagland (CVS), Dan Lufkin (Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette), and James D. Robinson III (American Express).^[8]

Doriot early attempt to reconnect with education in France was his founding of CPA – Centre de Perfectionnement aux Affaires in 1930. This later became part of HEC Paris in 2002, then rebranded as the HEC Paris executive MBA, de facto one of the oldest executive MBAs in the world.

After World War II, Doriot's experience with both world wars drove his determination to bridge chronically hostile countries and build lasting peace in Europe. He envisioned a business school that would unite leaders from different countries, including the former hostiles, to rebuild economies and promote lasting peace. To ensure that, his vision for the school includes citizenship limits and language of instruction to be in either French, English or German to ensure cross-culture collaboration.^[9]

In 1955, Doriot presented this idea to the Paris Chamber of Commerce, whose presidents, Jean Marcou and Philippe Dennis, not only funded the venture but also became first presidents of the school. Doriot's vision gained international backing, including from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who supported INSEAD's role in reconstructing Europe.^[10] Doriot selected Claude Janssen and Olivier Giscard d'Estaing, his former students at Harvard, as his co-founders. Janssen, well-connected in European business circles, had experience in finance, while Giscard d'Estaing, younger brother of the future French president, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, brought a political network.^[11]

INSEAD, initially as "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" (lit. 'European Institute of Business Administration'), was established in 1957 and initially operated out of the Château de Fontainebleau, before relocating to its current Europe Campus in 1967.^[12] The first MBA class began on September 12, 1959, with 57 students. Today, INSEAD, having dropped its European branding for a more global mission, is one of the world's top business schools, known for its drive for internationalism, globalization, strong culture of entrepreneurship, and successful alumni in global politics and corporate.

In 1946, Doriot returned to Harvard and the same year he founded American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC), one of the first two venture capital firms^{[citation needed]} along with Ralph Flanders and Karl Compton (former president of MIT), to encourage private sector investments in businesses run by soldiers who were returning from World War II. ARDC's significance was primarily that it was the first institutional private equity investment firm that accepted money from sources other than wealthy families although it had several notable investment successes as well.^[13]

ARDC is credited with the first major venture capital success story when its 1957 investment of $70000 in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) would be valued at over $38 million after the company's initial public offering in 1968 (representing a return of over 500 times on its investment and an annualized rate of return of 101%).^[14] Until his death, Doriot remained friends with Ken Olsen, Digital's founder.^[15]

Doriot's leadership at ARDC was marked by his unique approach to venture capital, which emphasized the character and vision of entrepreneurs over financial projections. He believed in long-term investment and nurturing startups, famously comparing his role to that of a parent caring for a sick child, focusing on the potential of the people behind the businesses rather than seeking early exits.^[16]

ARDC continued investing until 1971 with the retirement of Doriot. In 1972, Doriot merged ARDC with Textron after investing in over 150 companies. For his role in the founding of ARDC Doriot is often referred to as the "father of venture capitalism".^[17][18]

Doriot died of lung cancer in 1987 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Doriot Climatic Chambers at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, Natick, Massachusetts were named in his honor in 1994. (During his time in the US Army, Doriot had written and spoken about the need for an "Institute of Man" for the testing of soldiers and their equipment at environmental extremes. The DCCs are seen as a partial fulfillment of that vision.)

The Doriot School of Capital was created in his name by the so-called Zeitgeist University, Geneva, Switzerland and Mexico City, Mexico Campus in 2020 with the goal of educating leaders and building companies.

• History of private equity and venture capital
• Private equity
• Leveraged buyout

• Georges F. Doriot research papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School
• Georges F. Doriot American Research and Development papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School
• Georges F. Doriot papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School

• Ante, Spencer E. (2008). Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 978-1-4221-0122-3.
• George F. Doriot papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School