Shroud of Secrecy Cloaks Star Investor Behind Cognition, Ramp

Last month, Zach Dell, son of billionaire Michael Dell and cofounder of Base Power, a billion-dollar battery startup, was gabbing with podcaster David Senra when Senra asked him which of his investors have been the most helpful to him.

Dell’s three-year-old company has many prominent backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital and angel investor Elad Gil. Dell didn’t name any of them.

“Honestly, our mutual friend Zach,” Dell said.

The other Zach they were referring to was Zach Frankel, 37, a rising star investor who has played an outsized role in building some of tech’s most valuable and buzziest startups—while deliberately remaining anonymous outside of Silicon Valley’s innermost circles. Frankel is so far under the public radar that Dell and Senra even joked about it on the podcast.

“We can’t say his last name,” Senra said. “We can’t say his last name,” replied Dell, drawing a chuckle from the podcaster.