Tech industry leaders clash over whether to back Harris or Trump
Until November 5th, billionaire investor Reid Hoffman is committed to one project: getting Kamala Harris into the Oval Office
Since Joe Biden dropped out of the race, the LinkedIn co-founder has spent most of his time on the phone, he says. His job as an investor takes a back seat as he gathers members of his Silicon Valley inner circle to put their money and influence to work for the vice president.
Mr. Hoffman’s efforts clash with those of tech heavyweights who have thrown their support behind former President Donald Trump, sparking political consciousness in this overwhelmingly Democratic district. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk, investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Sequoia partner Doug Leone and others have strongly endorsed Trump in recent weeks, they appear to signal a shift to the right in Silicon Valley, others Tech leaders have been buoyed by the emergence of Harris as Biden. possible successor.
As they activate their networks, speak out against Trump and prepare for a bitter public battle, this longtime blue bastion is facing something new: rival political camps are putting their names, organizational skills and money behind rival candidates.
When the president decided not to run, we were relieved that there was another way and excitement. And also the urgency to move things forward.
“It’s a rising tide,” Mr. Hoffman said in an interview. “I already count more people and images in the Kamala Harris camp than in the Trump camp. »
A coalition of Silicon Valley executives is jumping into action on behalf of the potential new Democratic ticket. Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg said she was “thrilled” to endorse Kamala Harris in an Instagram post. Angel investor Ron Conway called on the tech community to rally around Mmy Harris, who benefits from his “unwavering” support. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, one of the friends Reid Hoffman said he called this week, backed a pro-Harris political action committee (PAC) with a $7 million donation. Philanthropist Melinda Gates also said she supports the vice president because he has an “inspiring vision for America.”
A gap in the technology industry
Money for San Francisco Bay Area executives had begun to dry up as donors worried about the viability of President Biden’s campaign, says Andrew Byrnes, who has long worked on Kamala Harris’ campaign finance. But in the past week, he says he’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mmy Harris, double what he had raised for Joe Biden in more than a year.
“When the president decided not to run, we were relieved that there was another way and excitement,” he said. And also the urgency to move things forward. »
The battle for the White House has driven a wedge into the technology industry, where many powerful players have moved together, pooling their fortunes to build a handful of the world’s largest Internet companies. The conflict has torn apart decades-old friendships and business partnerships, fueled ugly feuds on social media and reignited old tensions around gender, race and civil rights — rifts that first surfaced during Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign.
While Democratic tech leaders have largely viewed Barack Obama’s White House as an ally, the Biden administration has angered many in the industry with a tougher regulatory approach that has increased oversight of megamergers and artificial intelligence. Cryptocurrency investors have accused Mr. Biden of attacking their sector.
But the sudden surge in support for Trump has come as a shock to some, who see the stakes surrounding the election as more important than the industry’s results. Thanks Grace, a former partner at the investment firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, was devastated to see two friends who work in venture capital publicly support Donald Trump, in part because of his campaign’s pro-business approach to technology.
Profits vs. Social Issues
Thank you Grace, who tried unsuccessfully to have children for many years, underwent emergency surgery in 2022 to end a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. A national ban on abortion, a policy previously supported by Trump’s running mate JD Vance, could make it difficult to obtain this life-saving medical care.
“I actually cried that day,” she said. I felt they were willing to trade my life for money. »
For Lily Lamboy, a former manager at a San Francisco tech company, Silicon Valley’s rhetoric has highlighted a familiar divide: those who support Trump to protect their company’s profits and those who support Democrats on social issues such as abortions.
“I felt validated, in a weird way, to see this alignment with Trump come out into the public arena, even though I think it’s been there for years,” she says. Finally, he saw people saying “the silent part out loud.”
Among the elite, battles take place on X, where an ancient code of respect between people who share a common history and love of technology has been broken.
Reid Hoffman said he was offended by investor David Sachs’ numerous online posts praising those who had spoken out against Biden. For Mr. Hoffman, who served as an executive at PayPal alongside Mr. Sachs, the comments were a personal affront. “It was, OK, now are you going to have some integrity and stand up to Trump? Let’s face this integrity challenge in your own way.” Mr. Sachs did not respond to a request for comment.
Personal conflicts have also erupted online between billionaires: Elon Musk, owner of last on X.
“It’s hard for me to support someone who has no values, who lies, who cheats, who rapes, who degrades women and who hates immigrants like me,” Mr Khosla replied. “It might lower my taxes or reduce some regulations, but that’s no reason to accept the erosion of one’s personal values. »
Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a Republican donor, added that he knew Mr. Trump and Mr. Khosla well and believed the two men “would agree on a lot of important issues.”
Mr Khosla responded that he “almost threw up” when his former partner compared him to Mr Trump. (“Stop bringing family values into this,” Shernaz Daver, Vinod Khosla’s surgical partner, who worked for both men, told Scott McNealy. “You’re better than that!”)
Donald Trump supporters such as Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen say the former president will cut regulations and allow the tech industry to innovate and accelerate its growth. Although Mr Trump was skeptical of cryptocurrencies during his presidency, he has since courted the industry, giving a speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, as reported by Washington Post at the beginning of the month.
At the same time, Mr. Trump criticized the big tech companies, which he accused of bias. He specifically took aim at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying he opposes a ban on TikTok in the United States because it would benefit Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg banned Trump from Facebook after the January 6, 2021 riot on Capitol Hill.
“The decision by some tech titans to support Trump underscores the changing dynamics in the tech industry, driven by regulatory changes, tax policies, economic strategies and potential cultural shifts,” says Wendy Anderson, a former Obama-era Defense Department official. . She is now a senior vice president at Palantir, but spoke in a personal capacity.
Kamala Harris has contributed to Joe Biden’s efforts to draft regulations for the artificial intelligence industry and may continue the current administration’s approach. But some Silicon Valley executives believe she could restore the relationships and some of the trust that existed during the Obama administration, given her ties to the region as California’s former attorney general.
Reid Hoffman said his businesses were hampered by the Biden administration’s approach. Although he did not speak with Mmy Harris intends to make his voice heard as an “expert” regardless of his actions as a donor.
Silicon Valley “has a culture that ‘technology is extremely important to creating the future,’” he says. That’s one of the reasons why the Valley was so positive for Obama, because he was very clear on that point. We need to regain that dynamism.”
