Is The Most Powerful Couple in Silicon Valley Over?

No, not Mark and Priscilla Z.—titan investor Marc Andreessen and his heiress wife Laura are the ones who tell the Zuckerbergs how to spend their money. They are tech's biggest, newest philanthropic force, and it looks like their marriage has been disrupted.

Just two years ago, the New York Times declared the two "practically a royal couple" in the Valley, and detailed how Marc—a lowly venture capitalist—fell in love with Laura, whose property-baron father John Arrillaga amassed billions by buying and selling large portions of California. But this wasn't just two rich people getting hitched: Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen persuaded her husband (and his powerful rolodex) to consider charitable uses for their cash, instead of, say, buying part of Hawaii. She's advised Laurene Powell Jobs, Meg Whitman, and more recently, helped set up the Zuckerbergs' $100 million donation to the Newark public school system.

So it looked a little odd when Mr. Andreessen showed up to this week's Sun Valley media conclave—which, for whatever reason, heavily encourages moguls to attend with their spouses—sans wife. He pulled up in his car, conspicuously alone, while his exec pals all had smiling partners on their arm—which makes sense, as we'd been told by a source close to the couple that Arrillaga-Andreessen had moved out two months ago.

I messaged Marc asking about his marital disintegration back in May when I first heard of it, but haven't had any reply since—and because Facebook is so wonderfully creepy these days, I know he saw the message. Similar inquiries to Arrillaga-Andreessen offices were not acknowledged. I hope they can reconcile—Valley wealth needs more good influence.

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty