What’s with all the Trumpy VCs? The tech industry is still mostly blue, but things are definitely changing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/silicon-valley-venture-capitalists-trump/680225/

25 Comments

  1. Billionaires think they can make more money under fascism. It’s not new and it’s not complicated.

  2. OpalescentAardvark on

    Trump makes threats, targets people and companies he doesn’t like, rewards ones he does. Sensible business decision for certain companies is get on his good side just in case. It’s business as usual.

    > To some extent, this is just business as usual. O’Mara noted that although the tech industry used to claim to be apolitical, it has always had its fair share of lobbyists in Washington, D.C., like every other industry. More than anything else, the industry’s interests have simply followed the money.

    VCs make a lot of money from tech because regulation is always lagging behind. What’s easier to keep it that way – lobbying and arguing a case or fanning an idiot’s ego?

    Ed: Also, a better but harder read is Noam Chomsky on how Capitalism and Democracy are always at odds (which was being said back in the 70’s, this is nothing new), which puts this into a wider and more useful perspective. Found a bit: [there’s a fundamental contradiction between capitalism and democracy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3hAlPa4Up0&t=1595s)

  3. They’ve moved from any sort of innovation to rent seeking and no one does rent seeking like right-wingers

  4. Mr_Mouthbreather on

    People with obscene wealth believe they earned their obscene wealth due solely to their intelligence, hard work, and perseverance, and therefore think they are better than everyone else. They cannot fathom that some or even most of their wealth is due to a combination of luck and taking advantage of American laws and infrastructure.

  5. Peter Thiel has been supporting JD Vance for a while now. The super-rich supporting Republicans more than Democrats so that they can horde their wealth isn’t particularly new. Tech workers tend to be younger and more Democratic, the owners not so much.

  6. It will be interesting to see how citizens react MAGA style innovation, equal parts hype and failure. I like many feel swindled by the promise of a better future through technology and have no trust in these wealth hoarders. I’m guessing they’re going in for a full on dystopian society, who better than Trump to take us there.

  7. Marc Andreessen is scum. He only cares about is Benjamins in his pocket and could care less about what Trump will do to the Country.

  8. WinstonSitstill on

    Because now they are mostly rich kids from rich families. They don’t give a shit about America or democracy. All they care about is themselves and tax cuts. 

  9. For them voting blue means more taxes for them. Of course they make more money than they can ever spend, but greed is greed.

  10. Skeptical0ptimist on

    They were never blue.

    Also, they are not MAGA either.

    The only thing VCs have in common with Trump is that they are the enemies of the progressives.

    Beyond that there is not much VCs and Trump agree on. Most VCs do not like religion or union. They want laissez-faire government, meritocracy, free market, immigration and globalization. These are not MAGA values.

  11. PhysicalGraffiti75 on

    The people that own the companies have a vested interest in electing Trump. Their employees do not.

  12. The MAGA followers all think all big tech and Silicon Valley leaders are liberal (minus the obvious Muskrat) but they are all conservative. They are in it for the money, don’t want their mega corps broken up, and are ok sacrificing people’s rights if the dollar signs are right. Many of them donate to the right. 

  13. I’m sure the appeal of a regulatory framework that allows them to essentially establish their own corporate shadow states when they are in charge is pretty appealing.

  14. I dunno. I guess morally bankrupt billionaires without a shred of ethics like people who promise to not tax them, to take away their worker-slaves rights, and to never hold them accountable for any of the weird shit they do.

  15. They think they will be puppeteers. Trump will let them write the regulations and the tax code. Elon expects to speak to the nation from the Oval Office. That has never worked with a narcissist ruler but they don’t know or care.

  16. They’ve always been around and are opportunists. If Trump was polling terribly from 2023 through now, they wouldn’t be as loud with it, but think of where Trump was back in the spring/early summer…based on polling back then it seemed like a safe bet to try to get on his good side and suck up to him since the guy is quite vindictive.

    other possible aspects of the shift:

    1. Crypto – they don’t want to hold the bag on it and fear regulation.

    2. Taxes – Biden/Harris want to raise taxes on exactly this sort of cohort. Trump is promising the opposite.

    3. Regulatory threats – ZIRP days are gone, their next big hype (AI) they likely perceive less regulatory headwinds dealing with a Trump administration. Fwiw, Trump pitched himself quite crudely as for sale to CEOs back in the summer.

    4. Israel/Culture wars – See Bill Ackman. These types now are on the anti-DEI train, likely re-tweet/like content from Chris Rufo, LibsofTikTok, and Rich Hannania