Scott M. Sipprelle

Scott Mills Sipprelle is a venture capitalist and was the 2010 Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey's 12th congressional district. Sipprelle founded Westland Ventures, a Princeton-based investment firm, which helps emerging companies by providing growth capital.

Scott Sipprelle was born in Santa Barbara, California, where his father was a high school history teacher. Later, his parents joined the US Foreign Service and Scott spent much of his childhood living abroad, primarily in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Sipprelle graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College in 1985 with a B.A. in Economics along with a minor in government. He was the recipient of the Clark Prize in Public Speaking.

In 2007 Sipprelle founded the investment firm, Westland Ventures. Westland Ventures provides growth capital for emerging companies. Westland Ventures has invested in many young companies, including BlogTalkRadio, Zhena's Gypsy Tea, Narragansett Brewing, and The Bank of Princeton.Sipprelle has served as Chairman of the Advisory Board for The Bank of Princeton.

Previously, Sipprelle was a senior executive in the financial services industry. From 1985 to 1998 Sipprelle worked for Morgan Stanley, where, at 32, he became a managing director. He later managed the firm’s Equity Capital Markets Division, where he was responsible for managing the initial public offering process for many companies, including the landmark IPO of Netscape in 1994.

In 1998, Sipprelle left Morgan Stanley to launch the investment firm Midtown Research, which subsequently became Copper Arch Capital. Sipprelle's firm gained notoriety for instigating a shareholder revolt against cronyism and mismanagement at Morgan Stanley that eventually toppled the CEO, Phil Purcell. After a decade of managing capital for endowments and foundations, Sipprelle closed his fund in November 2007, a few months before the global stock markets collapsed.

Sipprelle first became interested in politics when, as a college student, he served as an intern for California Senator Pete Wilson. On the night of January 13, 2010, Sipprelle announced his intention of running for New Jersey's 12th District Congressional seat. Sipprelle promised to focus on “common-sense solutions” and to take back Washington from the career politicians. This was Sipprelle’s first run for political office, and in a statement he said, “I’m not running for Congress simply to be competitive or put up a good fight.” In a vow to be an independent voice on Capitol Hill Sipprelle said, “Frankly, any Congressman — of either party — who votes with his party boss 98 or 99 percent of the time is just a cog in the partisan machine that is tearing this country apart. He is not exercising wisdom, principle or good judgment, or putting his country first. You deserve better.”

Sipprelle was criticized later in January for his contribution to the congressional campaigns of Blue Dog Democrats Allen Boyd of Florida, Charlie Melancon of Louisiana, Heath Shuler of North Carolina, Baron Hill of Indiana, and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota.

On the night of June 8, Primary Election Day, Sipprelle won the Republican Primary over challenger David Corsi by a margin of 54-46.

The Sipprelle for Congress campaign website introduced Sipprelle’s “Blueprint for Renewal” which reads:

What I Believe: America is the greatest economic success story the world has ever seen. Our history proves, indisputably, that the most effective way to provide for the needs of our people is by embracing the principles of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and free markets. We need to reclaim the great American ideal of entrepreneurship and innovation and remove the choke hold of big government that is imperiling the vitality of our private sector. Only a prosperous society can be a compassionate one.

On November 2, 2010, buoyed by overwhelming support in the City of Trenton, six-term incumbent Rush Holt defeated Scott Sipprelle 53%-46%, with independent Kenneth J. Cody receiving 1%. Holt's victory was tainted by a blitz of negative campaigning, including the claim that Sipprelle had secretly conspired to change the tax assessment on his Princeton home. The allegation was subsequently described by the Princeton Tax Assessor as, "ludicrous." The narrow margin of victory was notable given Holt's previous two Congressional races in 2008 and 2006 had resulted in landslide winning margins of 28% and 32% respectively.

Sipprelle married his college sweetheart, Tracy. They are the parents of three children Jessica, David, and Stephen. Sipprelle and his family currently live in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.

In September 2009 Sipprelle published his first novel, The Golden Dog, a mystery set on Wall Street.