Holden Spaht '96, P'29 is a managing partner at Thoma Bravo, the world's largest software-focused investment firm, and a loyal Dartmouth alumnus, committed philanthropist, and — most importantly — proud parent of a Dartmouth student. Based in San Francisco, Holden joined Thoma Bravo in 2005 and has helped build it into a $172 billion investment firm which seeks to acquire and grow enterprise software companies that help many of the businesses around the world run. Over his career he has held more than two dozen board seats and today serves as a director of ten companies, including Anaplan, Coupa, Dayforce, and Nasdaq.
Holden earned a BA in economics with honors and competed for four years on the varsity men's tennis team, helping the Big Green capture the 1993 Ivy League championship and serving as captain his senior year, while earning All-Ivy recognition and three Academic All-Ivy selections. After graduation, he studied international politics at the University of Cologne on a Fulbright Scholarship and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Holden is the president and chair of the Spaht Family Foundation, which he founded with his wife, Claire, in 2019.The organization focuses on youth mental health, the arts, and the environment. Longtime supporters of Dartmouth Peak Performance (DP2) program, Holden and Claire endowed the Spaht Family Executive Associate Athletics Director for Dartmouth Peak Performance — a role dedicated to student-athlete well-being, mental health, and personal growth in support of Dartmouth's Commitment to Care. The Spaht family is also a member of the Founders Circle of the Kirsten and Eugene F. "Buddy" Teevens '79 Center for Peak Performance, and supporters of the university's general fund for student scholarships.
Beyond Hanover, the foundation is the lead donor to the Lindley Center, Washington & Lee University's student health and wellness clinic named for Holden's late sister. Holden has also served as chair of the board of trustees of Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco.
The son of educators, Holden was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He began his career as an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York, with subsequent roles at Thomas H. Lee Partners in Boston and Morgan Stanley in London and San Francisco. He and Claire are the parents of two daughters: Eliza, Washington & Lee Class of 2026, and Peyton, a member of Dartmouth's Class of 2029.