Silicon Valley Titans Shift Allegiances: Tech Investors Flock to the Right as Biden Loses Favor

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Prominent Investor Criticizes Biden, Raises Funds for Trump, Silicon Valley Political Winds Change
Changing Stance: From Not Supporting Trump to Fundraising Support
Shift in Political Winds in Silicon Valley
Democratic Party Still Has Many Venture Capital Titans
Startup Industry Policies Trigger Chemical Changes
Tech Backlash and Political Reassessment
Discontent with Tax Proposals and Encryption Policies
Supporting Politicians Driving the Future of Technology
ETH ETF, FIT 21 Bill Passes Quickly
Silicon Valley’s venture capital world is undergoing a political earthquake. Prominent tech investors such as Marc Andreessen and Chamath Palihapitiya are increasingly publicly criticizing President Biden and expressing support for Trump.
The New York Times reported on this series of political shifts:
In 2021, well-known venture capitalist and host David Sacks stated that former President Trump had disqualified himself as a future political candidate due to the January 6th Capitol riot.
However, at a tech conference last week, Sacks changed his stance, claiming that his disagreements with Biden are greater than those with Trump. Mr. Sacks also revealed that he and his podcast co-host are organizing a fundraising event for Trump and have extended an invitation to Biden, but the Trump campaign is more open to it.

The shift in Silicon Valley’s political winds is particularly noteworthy as Silicon Valley has long had close ties to the Democratic Party. Open support for Trump in Silicon Valley, which had been considered a liberal stronghold, was once taboo.
However, dissatisfaction with Biden and the Democratic Party is pushing some of the most prominent tech venture capitalists to the right. For example, Chamath Palihapitiya of Social Capital, who previously supported the Democratic Party, is now co-organizing fundraising events for Trump with Sacks.
Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital have criticized Biden without explicitly expressing support for Trump. Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures focuses on electing Republicans to Congress. These activities represent only a portion of individuals, but their influence cannot be ignored.
In the past, Republican donors in Silicon Valley were limited to a few senior tech executives, such as Scott McNealy, the founder of Sun Microsystems, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison, and former managing partner of Sequoia Capital Doug Leone. Tech companies like Airbnb, Google, Uber, and Apple have been enthusiastic about hiring former members of the Obama administration.
Many Silicon Valley investors, including Reid Hoffman and Vinod Khosla, remain loyal to the Democratic Party, while Peter Thiel, who once supported Trump (co-founder of PayPal), has expressed disappointment in politics and plans to withdraw from the 2024 election campaign.
However, these tech investors who have shifted to the right have a large following on social media and substantial funding, making them increasingly politicized.
According to PitchBook, which tracks startups, the startup industry grew eightfold from 2012 to 2022, reaching $344 billion, and more industry issues have become political. Bobby Franklin of the National Venture Capital Association states that current issues are more complex than ever before.
In 2016, Peter Thiel’s high-profile support for Trump, including a $1.25 million donation and a speech at the Republican National Convention, shocked the entire industry. The subsequent “tech backlash” led some industry leaders to reevaluate their political views, a trend that has continued to ferment during the social and political turmoil of the pandemic.
Some investors express disappointment with Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission chair nominated by Biden, for her opposition to acquisitions, and dissatisfaction with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s hostile attitude towards cryptocurrency companies.
Since 2022, startups have been in a slump due to rising interest rates and a bleak IPO market. Sacks believes that Biden’s tax proposals, including a 25% billionaire tax on certain holdings, could stifle the development of startups. He stated at a tech conference last week, “This is a good reason for Silicon Valley to seriously consider their voting choices.”
Marc Andreessen, one of the founders of Andreessen Horowitz, pointed out in a recent podcast, “The Biden administration has real problems.” He believes that under the Trump administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be led by “very different people,” but Trump’s presidency was not necessarily a “clean win.”
Representatives from the National Venture Capital Association state that Silicon Valley’s dissatisfaction with the current situation reflects the general disappointment with both parties nationwide.
Andreessen Horowitz’s mention last year of “e/acc” (enthusiastically embracing a technology-driven future) may best represent the sentiment of these tech investors. In November last year, a group of prominent investors and startup founders jointly wrote a letter to Biden, criticizing his executive orders on artificial intelligence and accusing him of stifling innovation.
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What is Vitalik’s proposed “d/acc”? How does it differ from “e/acc” (effective accelerationism)?
)
Perhaps due to pressure felt by the Biden administration, unlike the long-anticipated Bitcoin spot ETF, the Ether spot ETF was approved by the SEC without public comments for improvement. Additionally, the FIT 21 Bill, strongly supported by US cryptocurrency industry players, which restricts the SEC’s regulatory scope and clearly defines decentralized networks, quickly passed the House of Representatives and is heading to the Senate for review.
This industry-friendly development extended from the election will greatly change the industrial development of the United States and the world.
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