Michael A. Brown

SF&415-875-2432|SM&310-434-5401
mbrown@fenwick.com
Partner
Corporate

Michael A.
Brown

Michael A.
Brown

Michael A.
Brown

Partner
Corporate

Throughout his career, Michael has advised emerging and established companies on some of the most high-profile transactions in the technology sector.

Michael guides world-class technology companies—ranging from early-stage startups to mature, publicly traded corporations—in a wide-range of corporate transactions, including venture and growth financings, mergers and acquisitions, initial and follow-on public offerings, debt financings, and corporate reorganizations.

His experience in structuring a wide range of complex capital markets transactions includes representation of Coinbase on its 2021 direct listing, the first major crypto company to go public and the first technology direct listing on Nasdaq. In 2022, Michael was named an American Lawyer “Dealmaker of the Year” for his role advising Coinbase in this transaction.

Michael has received numerous accolades and has been consistently recognized as a leading lawyer to technology companies and their investors by publications including Chambers, Law360, Legal 500, Super Lawyers, and LMG Life Sciences.

Brown provides the kind of top-shelf, business-focused lawyering essential for game-changing technology innovators—from startups to mature market leaders—as well as leading venture capital firms and key incubators that help to finance these companies’ efforts.”

The Los Angeles Business Journal

2019 Leaders in Law Finalists: Corporate Attorney of the Year

  • Multiple financings for Databricks, including its $500M Series I, $1.6B Series H, $1B Series G, $400M Series F, $250M Series E and $140M Series D financings
  • Multiple financings for Relativity Space, including its $650M Series E, $500M Series D and $140M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Tanium, including over $600M in common stock financings and its $120M Series G financing
  • Multiple financings for Carta, including its $500M Series G, $180M Series F, $300M Series E and $80M Series D financings
  • Multiple financings for Illumio, including its $225M Series F, $65M Series E, $125M Series D and $100M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Side, including its $150M Series D financing and additional $50M financing
  • Multiple financings for Dragos, including its $74M Series D extension, $200M Series D and $110M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Anyscale, including its initial $100M Series C and additional $99M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Ursa Major, including its $138M Series D and D-1 and $85M Series C financings.
  • Multiple financings for Uber, including its publicly-announced $3.5B investment by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Series F, Series E and Series D financings
  • Multiple financings for Airbnb, including its publicly-announced $1.5B Series E and $475M Series D financings
  • Wiz in its $1B funding
  • Securonix in its $1B+ financing led by Vista
  • CoreWeave in its $1.1B Series C funding and its $642M secondary sale
  • AvantStay in its $160M Series B financing
  • MOLOCO in its $150M Series C financing
  • Nylas in its $120M Series C financing
  • Invoca in its $83M Series F financing
  • Modern Animal in its $75M Series C financing
  • Multiple investments representing Alpha Edison, Databricks Ventures and Fidelity Investments:
    • Alpha Edison in 30+ investments, including Red 6’s $97M Series B, Alto’s $40M Series B, Kin’s $35M Series B, Parsley Health’s $26M Series B, DoltHub’s $16M Series B, United Dwelling’s $10M Series B, Mojo’s $5.5M Series A and Frame’s $5M Series Seed
    • Databricks Ventures in 25+ investments, including dbt Labs’ $222M Series D, Tecton’s $100M Series C, Hunters’ $68M Series C, Hex’s $52M Series B and Arcion’s $13M Series A
    • Fidelity Investments in connection with 70+ investments, including Stripe’s $6.9B Series I and $600M Series H, Epic’s $1.78B and $1B late-stage financings, ThoughtWorks’ $720M growth round, Lime’s $523M financing, Zipline’s $330M Series F and $250M Series E, Bowery Farming’s $300M Series C, Sonder’s $170M Series E, Inscripta’s $150M Series E, and Endeavor in its initial investment as well as in connection with the company’s $511.2M IPO

  • Multiple financings for Databricks, including its $500M Series I, $1.6B Series H, $1B Series G, $400M Series F, $250M Series E and $140M Series D financings
  • Multiple financings for Relativity Space, including its $650M Series E, $500M Series D and $140M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Tanium, including over $600M in common stock financings and its $120M Series G financing
  • Multiple financings for Carta, including its $500M Series G, $180M Series F, $300M Series E and $80M Series D financings
  • Multiple financings for Illumio, including its $225M Series F, $65M Series E, $125M Series D and $100M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Side, including its $150M Series D financing and additional $50M financing
  • Multiple financings for Dragos, including its $74M Series D extension, $200M Series D and $110M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Anyscale, including its initial $100M Series C and additional $99M Series C financings
  • Multiple financings for Ursa Major, including its $138M Series D and D-1 and $85M Series C financings.
  • Multiple financings for Uber, including its publicly-announced $3.5B investment by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Series F, Series E and Series D financings
  • Multiple financings for Airbnb, including its publicly-announced $1.5B Series E and $475M Series D financings
  • Wiz in its $1B funding
  • Securonix in its $1B+ financing led by Vista
  • CoreWeave in its $1.1B Series C funding and its $642M secondary sale
  • AvantStay in its $160M Series B financing
  • MOLOCO in its $150M Series C financing
  • Nylas in its $120M Series C financing
  • Invoca in its $83M Series F financing
  • Modern Animal in its $75M Series C financing
  • Multiple investments representing Alpha Edison, Databricks Ventures and Fidelity Investments:
    • Alpha Edison in 30+ investments, including Red 6’s $97M Series B, Alto’s $40M Series B, Kin’s $35M Series B, Parsley Health’s $26M Series B, DoltHub’s $16M Series B, United Dwelling’s $10M Series B, Mojo’s $5.5M Series A and Frame’s $5M Series Seed
    • Databricks Ventures in 25+ investments, including dbt Labs’ $222M Series D, Tecton’s $100M Series C, Hunters’ $68M Series C, Hex’s $52M Series B and Arcion’s $13M Series A
    • Fidelity Investments in connection with 70+ investments, including Stripe’s $6.9B Series I and $600M Series H, Epic’s $1.78B and $1B late-stage financings, ThoughtWorks’ $720M growth round, Lime’s $523M financing, Zipline’s $330M Series F and $250M Series E, Bowery Farming’s $300M Series C, Sonder’s $170M Series E, Inscripta’s $150M Series E, and Endeavor in its initial investment as well as in connection with the company’s $511.2M IPO

  • Alteryx sale to Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners ($4.4B)
  • Cepheid sale to Danaher ($4B)
  • Multiple acquisitions for Cisco Systems, including its acquisition of WebEx Communications ($3.2B)
  • Data Domain sale to EMC ($2.4B)
  • Opsware sale to Hewlett-Packard ($1.6B)
  • ArcSight sale to Hewlett-Packard ($1.5B)
  • Databricks acquisition of MosaicML ($1.3B)
  • Dermira sale to Eli Lilly ($1.1B)
  • OpenDNS sale to Cisco Systems ($635M)
  • ScoutRFP sale to Workday ($540M)
  • ThousandEyes sale to Cisco Systems
  • Doctor On Demand in its merger with Grand Rounds to form Included Health
  • Kareo in its merger with PatientPop to form Tebra
  • Vast in its acquisition of Launcher
  • Voyage Auto sale to Cruise
  • Elevate Securite sale to Mimecast
  • Chubbies sale to Solo Brands
  • Invoca in its acquisition of DialogTech
  • Wiz in its acquisition of Gem Security
  • Coinbase acquisitions of Cipher Browser, Keystone Capital, Earn.com, Memo.AI, Paradex and Tagomi
  • Alteryx acquisitions of ClearStory Data, Lore IO, Semanta, Trifacta and Yhat
  • Airship acquisitions of Accengage, Apptimize, Gummicube and ReplyBuy
  • Carta acquisitions of Yearend, Preferred Return, MarketGrid and Kik Interactive

  • Alteryx sale to Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners ($4.4B)
  • Cepheid sale to Danaher ($4B)
  • Multiple acquisitions for Cisco Systems, including its acquisition of WebEx Communications ($3.2B)
  • Data Domain sale to EMC ($2.4B)
  • Opsware sale to Hewlett-Packard ($1.6B)
  • ArcSight sale to Hewlett-Packard ($1.5B)
  • Databricks acquisition of MosaicML ($1.3B)
  • Dermira sale to Eli Lilly ($1.1B)
  • OpenDNS sale to Cisco Systems ($635M)
  • ScoutRFP sale to Workday ($540M)
  • ThousandEyes sale to Cisco Systems
  • Doctor On Demand in its merger with Grand Rounds to form Included Health
  • Kareo in its merger with PatientPop to form Tebra
  • Vast in its acquisition of Launcher
  • Voyage Auto sale to Cruise
  • Elevate Securite sale to Mimecast
  • Chubbies sale to Solo Brands
  • Invoca in its acquisition of DialogTech
  • Wiz in its acquisition of Gem Security
  • Coinbase acquisitions of Cipher Browser, Keystone Capital, Earn.com, Memo.AI, Paradex and Tagomi
  • Alteryx acquisitions of ClearStory Data, Lore IO, Semanta, Trifacta and Yhat
  • Airship acquisitions of Accengage, Apptimize, Gummicube and ReplyBuy
  • Carta acquisitions of Yearend, Preferred Return, MarketGrid and Kik Interactive

  • Informatica initial public offering (underwriters’ counsel)
  • Coinbase direct listing and convertible senior notes offering
  • Nurix Therapeutics initial public offering and follow-on public offering
  • Alteryx initial public offering and follow-on public offering
  • Dermira initial public offering and multiple follow-on public offerings
  • Marin Software initial public offering and at-the-market offerings
  • Silver Spring Networks initial public offering
  • ArcSight initial public offering
  • Dexcom multiple follow-on public offerings
  • Glu Mobile follow-on public offering
  • Alteryx, Cepheid, Coinbase, Dermira and Dexcom convertible debt offerings pursuant to Rule 144A

  • Informatica initial public offering (underwriters’ counsel)
  • Coinbase direct listing and convertible senior notes offering
  • Nurix Therapeutics initial public offering and follow-on public offering
  • Alteryx initial public offering and follow-on public offering
  • Dermira initial public offering and multiple follow-on public offerings
  • Marin Software initial public offering and at-the-market offerings
  • Silver Spring Networks initial public offering
  • ArcSight initial public offering
  • Dexcom multiple follow-on public offerings
  • Glu Mobile follow-on public offering
  • Alteryx, Cepheid, Coinbase, Dermira and Dexcom convertible debt offerings pursuant to Rule 144A

  • Airship
  • Alpha Edison
  • Alteryx
  • Anyscale
  • Bugcrowd
  • Carta
  • Coinbase
  • CoreWeave
  • Databricks
  • Dexcom
  • DISQO
  • Dragos
  • Espressive
  • Fidelity Investments
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Illumio
  • Included Health
  • Instabase
  • Invoca
  • Kentik
  • Lightspeed Venture Partners
  • Machina Labs
  • Matroid
  • Modern Animal
  • Moment
  • Narvar
  • Nava
  • Nurix Therapeutics
  • Nylas
  • Pixxel Space
  • Relativity Space
  • Ruggable
  • Scopely
  • Side Real Estate
  • Simbe Robotics
  • Sonar Software
  • Tanium
  • Tebra
  • Ursa Major
  • Vast Space
  • Wealthfront
  • Wiz
  • Zumper

  • Airship
  • Alpha Edison
  • Alteryx
  • Anyscale
  • Bugcrowd
  • Carta
  • Coinbase
  • CoreWeave
  • Databricks
  • Dexcom
  • DISQO
  • Dragos
  • Espressive
  • Fidelity Investments
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Illumio
  • Included Health
  • Instabase
  • Invoca
  • Kentik
  • Lightspeed Venture Partners
  • Machina Labs
  • Matroid
  • Modern Animal
  • Moment
  • Narvar
  • Nava
  • Nurix Therapeutics
  • Nylas
  • Pixxel Space
  • Relativity Space
  • Ruggable
  • Scopely
  • Side Real Estate
  • Simbe Robotics
  • Sonar Software
  • Tanium
  • Tebra
  • Ursa Major
  • Vast Space
  • Wealthfront
  • Wiz
  • Zumper

...a jack of all trades in the technology sphere.”

Law360

...a jack of all trades in the technology sphere.”

Law360

...a jack of all trades in the technology sphere.”

Law360

Recognition Recognition Recognition

Recognition Recognition Recognition

Recognition
Chambers USA

2024

Recognized Michael nationally as a top lawyer for startups and emerging companies.

American Lawyer

2022

Named Michael “Dealmaker of the Year” for his role advising Coinbase on its pioneering Nasdaq direct listing.

The Legal 500

2022-2023

Recognized Michael among the United States’ leading lawyers for venture capital and emerging companies, capital markets: equity offerings and for companies in the fintech industry.

The Los Angeles Business Journal

2019

Recognized Michael among just five other finalists for Corporate Attorney of the Year, honoring his contributions to the Los Angeles business community.

LMG Life Sciences

2022

Named Michael a leading lawyer for life sciences work.

Lawdragon

2024-2025

Recognized Michael as one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America.

Recognition
Chambers USA

2024

Recognized Michael nationally as a top lawyer for startups and emerging companies.

American Lawyer

2022

Named Michael “Dealmaker of the Year” for his role advising Coinbase on its pioneering Nasdaq direct listing.

The Legal 500

2022-2023

Recognized Michael among the United States’ leading lawyers for venture capital and emerging companies, capital markets: equity offerings and for companies in the fintech industry.

The Los Angeles Business Journal

2019

Recognized Michael among just five other finalists for Corporate Attorney of the Year, honoring his contributions to the Los Angeles business community.

LMG Life Sciences

2022

Named Michael a leading lawyer for life sciences work.

Lawdragon

2024-2025

Recognized Michael as one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America.