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Indian-American VC Om Malik passes away
The Delhi-born journalist chronicled the rise of the commercial internet before becoming an early-stage technology investor.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 26, Jun 2026
- 13:42 EDT
- 77
Om Malik / om.co
Indian-American venture capitalist and veteran technology journalist Om Malik passed away June 24 at Stanford Hospital after a prolonged heart-related illness. He was 59.
His family announced his death in a statement, saying Malik "passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a long health journey with his heart. He was surrounded by family and friends."
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A pioneering technology journalist, entrepreneur and investor, Malik was best known for founding GigaOm, one of Silicon Valley's earliest and most influential technology blogs, which evolved into a media company and research firm.
He later became a partner at True Ventures, where he invested in and mentored early-stage technology startups before transitioning to partner emeritus.
Over a career spanning more than three decades, Malik held editorial roles at Forbes.com, Business 2.0, Red Herring and Quick Nikkei News. His writing also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Wired and Fast Company, and he was a frequent technology commentator for Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, NPR and BBC.
Malik authored Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist, a 2003 book examining fraud in the telecommunications industry during the dot-com boom.
Born in New Delhi on Sept. 29, 1966, Malik earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi.
After beginning his journalism career in India, he moved to New York in the early 1990s, where he launched DesiParty.com, an online South Asian events platform, and co-founded Masala magazine, serving the South Asian diaspora. He later relocated to San Francisco, where he founded GigaOm in 2001.
A major heart attack in 2007 prompted Malik to reassess his priorities. He joined Silicon Valley-based True Ventures as a venture partner in 2008, became a full-time partner in 2014 and later served as partner emeritus, focusing on technology forecasting, mentoring founders and investing in early-stage startups.
In a tribute, True Ventures described Malik as "a brilliant Founder, an amazing teammate and Partner at True, a prolific writer, a gifted photographer, and a sage and valuable advisor to so many in the technology ecosystem."
The firm added, "Om was brilliant, thoughtful, humorous, profoundly kind, and deeply curious. He was also relentless when he had an idea or story. Om was brave — he never shied away from sharing his views or pushing for the truth."
Tributes also poured in from across the technology industry.
Sriram Krishnan, former White House Senior Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, wrote that Malik was "one of the nicest people I met when I first came to the Bay Area," adding, "Om loved beautiful things crafted with love and he was a beautiful person with much love. You will be missed."
Apple Senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak said Malik "understood technology deeply, and ... always saw it through a human lens."
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff remembered Malik as "a pioneer, a deep thinker, and a truly original voice who shaped the soul of Silicon Valley."
Malik is survived by his family. His family invited friends and colleagues to share memories of his life and work through his social media accounts.
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