DOJ Probes Andreessen Horowitz Over Board Seats at Competing AI Companies Databricks and Fivetran

Will the DOJ's investigation into a16z spook other VCs?

Following a Bloomberg report that the Department of Justice is investigating venture firm Andreessen Horowitz for holding board seats with rival AI companies, VCs told TechCrunch that they were baffled. On the latest episode of the Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O'Kane, and I were similarly puzzled by the news. Yes, VC conflicts-of-interest are worth taking seriously, but as Kirsten wondered, "Of all the things that the DOJ would focus on in terms of level of importance, why does this one rise to the top?" The news was also surprising because of a16z's ties with the Trump administration, and because the firm has been so quiet about the investigation. It's a real contrast with the firm's activity during the Biden years, when -- as Sean put it -- "every little policy change, especially related to crypto, generated a day's worth of posting." But Sean also speculated that by targeting a16z, the DOJ might also be setting an "example" that "smaller firms would follow." Keep reading for a preview of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. Kirsten Korosec: I think that you bring some interesting perspective to this, Anthony, because you actually worked at a VC firm, whereas Sean and I have never been inside the confines of the VC world. We've only reported on it. Anthony Ha: Long-time equity listeners will know that I did spend a couple years working at an early stage VC firm -- a much smaller firm than Andreessen Horowitz, as different as you can be while still technically being in the same industry. It did color my response when I was reading this article, which is essentially about these board seats that Andreessen Horowitz holds, and the idea that they have board seats in some companies that have become competitors. It was really surprising to me, as apparently it was to a number of other VCs. And again, I'm not a lawyer, I was not on the legal team of this VC firm. There is, obviously, an understanding, and apparently laws, around the idea that you should not be on boards of competing startups. But this is not something that is, generally, enforced very closely. Founders don't feel great if you are on the board of their biggest competitor. But also, startups evolve. And I think that was true in this case -- you invest in a startup doing one thing, and then, say, the AI boom happens, and suddenly they're doing something completely different. So the idea that you would have a year-long DOJ investigation into this -- we don't really know what the results are, there's a lot of questions about this, but it just seems very strange. Kirsten: In this case, Ben Horowitz sits on the Databricks board. Partner Martin Casado sits on Fivetran board. And to your point, especially in this AI-driven boom cycle, a lot of companies are changing what they're doing, and either to jump into the AI space or to take advantage of specific subcategories within it. And a company the size of Andreessen, which makes so many investments and is on a lot of board seats, you can see how this would happen. To me, what was interesting -- and Sean, I wonder if you have an opinion on this -- is of all the things that the DOJ would focus on in terms of level of importance, why does this one rise to the top? Sean O'Kane: I'm just excited we've got another chance for disruption here. I mean, we could create a startup that is just going to put an AI on your board, and there are no conflicts of interest. Let's do it. No, you're right. It's weird for a number of reasons, and when I first saw the headline, it certainly piqued my interest because I wanted to know what it was that they were looking at. We should back up just a real quick second. Bloomberg reported that this [investigation] has been going on for nearly a year, so this started under the Trump administration. The people who run Andreessen Horowitz are very friendly with the Trump administration, involved in the Trump administration in some ways, sitting on some councils and things like that. And so, for as much rhetoric as the [second] Trump administration was putting out there when it was still incoming, about being antitrust forward and fighting against the big forces of consolidation or whatever, that really hasn't borne out. I mean, they settled with Live Nation. They didn't break up Ticketmaster. We could spend all day talking about how that was a pretty hollow promise. The Justice Department should not be a tool for the president to just direct at enemies or friends or whoever. But it's just interesting that this is a bridge they were willing to cross, knowing how close they are with this administration. And I've reported on some things that Andreessen Horowitz have done that made me wonder if that was going to be part of this. Two years ago, we published a story about how Ben Horowitz was personally making connections between the startups that Andreessen Horowitz backs and [the] local police department in Las Vegas, and things that have maybe more of an anti-competitive flavor to it than this -- which, like you've said, is maybe a bit more by chance because of the way that these companies evolved and wound up competing against each other. [It] certainly doesn't seem like it's something that Andreessen Horowitz feels [is] such an overreach that we have seen them complaining about it on Twitter, like they were during the Biden era -- where every little policy change, especially related to crypto, generated a day's worth of posting. We haven't really seen that here. So maybe it's all going to be copacetic in the end. Anthony: To Sean's point about the DOJ, without getting too deeply into the politics of it, I think anyone who's been reading the news knows there's a lot of turmoil there. There's a lot of questions about sort of how politicized the office has or hasn't become. Which, again, just makes it very surprising and strange that there has been this long investigation into an ostensible ally of the Trump administration. The last thing I wanted to say for now is also just the length of the investigation is very surprising. If it was just about, "Well, we don't think you should be on these two board seats," there's not that much to investigate there. You [would] just tell them, "Don't do that," or, "Here's what we need you to do instead." [Yes, I may be a little naive about how DOJ investigations work.] So, what that suggests [is that] there must be a lot that we don't know. There has to be some other, more serious allegation of something going on. Otherwise, what is there to investigate for that long? Kirsten: Well, I think that you can have two truths. Meaning, you can have a slow, arduous process because of an inefficient DOJ, and also, you can have some sort of smoking gun or bigger issue. We don't want to get too speculative and make assumptions. But I do think that their reaction and how quiet they've been -- perhaps they're listening to their lawyers, perhaps that there is something a little bit bigger here. My question is: How does this now affect other VC firms? Are they taking notice, or is this considered a weird outlier, and they're just going to proceed as normal and continue to take board seats and not worry too much about potential competition between boards down the line? Sean: I think that's a good question. If this is really something that is such a concern inside the antitrust division of the DOJ, then maybe this is a way for them to ... how do I best put it? Set the example that then those smaller firms would follow. Instead of, if you perceive this as [an] antitrust violation, going after all these other, smaller firms for doing something like this, you go after Andreessen Horowitz and you set the example. And then maybe that puts these other people in more of a wary, cautious position, and so I could see that being the case. The other thing to think about here is, this administration and the agencies that work for it and next to it have really backed off on public company prosecution in very explicit ways. The SEC and the DOJ have both said that public company investigations and things like that are just not a priority. They would rather go after individuals. Obviously, we're talking about Andreessen Horowitz as a company here, but it just makes me wonder if this is, in some ways, some sort of side effect of how the priorities have shifted. If you're not going after corporate prosecutions -- you're backing off on guilty pleas that Boeing has entered, and again, settling with Live Nation and really backing off some of those Fortune 500-type companies -- maybe one of the side effects is, you wind up paying a bit more attention to stuff like this.

Andreessen Horowitz focus of DOJ probe over board directors, Bloomberg News reports

Aug 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. DOJ is investigating Andreessen Horowitz over concerns that the venture capital firm's partners may be improperly sitting on the boards of competing AI companies, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The companies ⁠involved include Databricks and Fivetran, which are backed by the venture capital firm, Bloomberg said. Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz sits on Databricks' board, while partner Martin Casado serves on Fivetran's board. Both companies provide tools that help businesses collect, organize and analyze large volumes of data. Casado was ⁠also on the board of a similar company, called dbt Labs, which was acquired by Fivetran in June, according to the report. Andreessen Horowitz and ⁠the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The firm, which is also ⁠an investor in OpenAI, and its co-founders Horowitz and Marc Andreessen have given a ⁠combined $12 million since Trump's second inauguration to MAGA Inc., a political committee aligned with the president. Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Andreessen Horowitz DOJ probe: two boards, one 1914 statute

The Andreessen Horowitz DOJ probe centres on whether partners at the venture firm improperly sit on the boards of competing AI companies. Bloomberg reported it on Monday. Ben Horowitz sits on the Databricks board, and Martin Casado sits on Fivetran's. The department could still close the case without acting. The US Justice Department is investigating Andreessen Horowitz. At issue is whether partners at the venture capital firm improperly sit on the boards of competing artificial intelligence companies. Bloomberg reported the investigation on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Those sources put the investigation at nearly a year old. Monday's story is the first public account of the Andreessen Horowitz DOJ probe. The department has made no final decision, the sources said, and the matter could end with no action. The companies and the board seats Two portfolio companies sit at the centre of it. Both sell software that helps businesses collect, organise, and analyse large volumes of data. Ben Horowitz co-founded Andreessen Horowitz. He sits on the board of Databricks. Martin Casado, a partner at the firm, sits on the board of Fivetran. The firm backs both companies. Casado also held a board seat at dbt Labs. Fivetran acquired that company in June. The Justice Department reviewed the deal for months after the parties announced it in October, the sources said, then cleared it unconditionally. The department opened the board investigation at around the same time as that merger review. It continued the inquiry after the acquisition closed. What the law says The provision at issue is Section 8 of the Clayton Act. Congress passed it in 1914, and it now sits at 15 U.S.C. 19. Antitrust lawyers call the practice it targets an interlocking directorate. The text says that "no person shall, at the same time, serve as a director or officer in any two corporations" that compete, where an agreement between them would breach antitrust law. The statute carves out exceptions. Banks are one. So are companies below a threshold for total capital and profits. Bloomberg reported that these investigations usually end one way. A director gives up one of the two board seats. What the parties said Spokespeople for Databricks and for the Justice Department declined to comment, Bloomberg said. Spokespeople for Andreessen Horowitz and Fivetran did not respond to its requests. A Justice Department spokesperson later issued a statement that neither confirmed nor denied the inquiry, Forbes reported. "We can confirm that the DOJ under the Trump Administration will continue to prioritize affordability for all Americans across our economy," the spokesperson said. The Washington Examiner received the same wording. Earlier cases under the same law Bloomberg framed the inquiry as a continuation of a Biden-era enforcement push. Before then, the department rarely invoked the 1914 provision. Jonathan Kanter ran the antitrust division at the time. Under him, the department pressed directors to leave a number of boards. Ari Emanuel, then chief executive of Endeavor Group Holdings, left the board of Live Nation Entertainment in 2021. Directors at more than ten other companies gave up seats across 2022 and 2023. A question about firms and individuals One feature separates this case from those, Bloomberg reported. More than one individual director is involved here. That places the firm itself at the centre of the question rather than a single person. The statute covers entities as well as people. A handful of courts have read it that way, according to Bloomberg. The point is not fully settled, which could give the firm room to contest any allegation the government brings. The firm and Washington Andreessen Horowitz has aligned itself closely with the second Trump administration, Bloomberg reported. The firm has also become a significant voice on federal AI policy. Horowitz and co-founder Marc Andreessen each gave millions of dollars in 2024 to a group supporting Trump's candidacy. Later that year, Horowitz gave $2.5mn to a super political action committee backing the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris. Both figures come from Bloomberg. Forbes cited ProPublica reporting that Andreessen donated more than $5mn to groups supporting Trump in 2024. It also cited a New York Times report from May. That put the firm and its co-founders at $115.5mn in donations ahead of the November midterms, the largest of any donor. The firm endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, Forbes noted. Andreessen advised him at his Mar-a-Lago estate before the inauguration. He told Business Insider he spent half his time on it. Andreessen has taken government advisory roles since. War Secretary Pete Hegseth appointed him to the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board in June, the Washington Examiner reported. The Washington Post reported in July that the Federal Reserve had also enlisted him to advise on AI. Forbes put Andreessen's net worth at $1.9bn on Monday afternoon. Forbes characterised the investigation as a rare case of the administration examining a political ally. Doug Calidas, a lobbyist who favours AI regulation, told Bloomberg the firm was "probably the most powerful single company that I've seen in recent years". The firm and its portfolio Andreessen Horowitz managed $90bn in assets as of January, Bloomberg reported. It has since closed a $15bn fund, the largest in its history. Its AI holdings include the coding company Cursor, which SpaceX acquired this month. They also include the voice company ElevenLabs. The firm holds a stake in SpaceX itself, which went public in June. It has also backed OpenAI. Databricks ranks among the portfolio companies seen as listing candidates. It closed $5bn last week at a $190bn valuation. Horowitz has led investments in it since a $14mn round in 2013, Bloomberg reported. What happens next The department has not said whether it will act. Its own sources told Bloomberg the inquiry could close without a finding. The department is separately in settlement talks with Apple over an unrelated antitrust case. Neither Andreessen Horowitz nor Fivetran has commented publicly on the board investigation.

Andreessen Horowitz focus of DOJ probe over board directors | Fortune

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is the focus of a Justice Department antitrust probe over whether its investment partners are improperly serving on the boards of competing artificial intelligence companies, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies at issue include Databricks Inc., one of the most valuable privately held technology companies in the world, and Fivetran Inc., both backed by the VC firm, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz serves on the board of Databricks, and partner Martin Casado is a board member of Fivetran. Both companies help businesses collect, organize and analyze massive troves of data. Casado was also on the board of a similar company dbt labs, which was acquired by Fivetran in June. The Justice Department conducted a months-long review of the deal, first announced in October, said the people, but ultimately cleared it unconditionally. The nearly year-old investigation, which hasn't been previously reported, was opened around the same time as the merger review and has continued after the deal was completed, the people said. Spokespeople for Databricks and the Justice Department declined to comment. Spokespeople for Andreessen Horowitz and Fivetran didn't respond to requests for comment. Resolving such investigations typically requires that directors step down from one of the competing boards. And companies targeted by the Biden administration did just that, with directors on some dozen boards, including Live Nation Entertainment Inc. leaving their positions to resolve the conflict. White House Connections The investigation of Andreessen Horowitz, which has closely aligned itself with the second Trump administration, is particularly noteworthy. The company has forged ties to the White House and its tech portfolio stands to benefit from the minimal regulatory policies that some of Andreessen Horowitz's team is pressing in Washington. Horowitz and the firm's other co-founder, Marc Andreessen, each donated millions of dollars in 2024 to a group aligned with then presidential candidate Donald Trump. And the firm has been a key voice on AI policy, successfully pushing the administration to remove many safety guardrails on the use of the technology, Bloomberg News has reported. Later in 2024 Horowitz also gave $2.5 million to a super PAC that supported Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The Justice Department hasn't made any final decisions on how to proceed with the investigation, which could end with no action, the people said. The investigation also represents a continuation of a key Biden-era focus on a rarely invoked 1914 law against so-called interlocking directorates, where individuals or entities sit on boards of directors for two companies that directly compete with one another. Under then Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the DOJ forced directors to resign from a number of boards to resolve such concerns. In 2021 then Endeavor Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel stepped down from the board of Live Nation. And in 2022 and 2023 directors from more than 10 other companies exited boards as well. Competing Boards In the Andreessen Horowitz probe however, it's the involvement of the firm itself on competing boards, since more than one individual director is at issue. While the law is worded to apply to companies as well as individuals and a handful of courts have agreed, it could still provide an avenue for the firm to challenge any allegations by the government. As of January, Andreessen Horowitz had $90 billion in assets under management, making it one of the richest venture capital firms in the world. The firm recently raised a $15 billion fund, its largest haul ever, to invest across the startup ecosystem. Andreessen Horowitz has poured billions into AI upstarts, including backing companies like coding startup Cursor, which was just acquired by SpaceX and voice AI company ElevenLabs. The firm also is a major investor in SpaceX, which went public in June, and has backed OpenAI, which is looking to go public in the near future. Databricks is another IPO contender within Andreessen Horowitz's portfolio. Horowitz is sitting on billions of dollars in potential returns due to his continued lead investments in the company, dating back to a $14 million fundraising in 2013. Databricks last week announced $5 billion in funding at a $190 billion valuation.

​​​​​​DOJ Probes Andreessen Horowitz Over Rival AI Board Roles

The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to determine whether its investment partners are holding board seats at competing artificial intelligence companies in ways that might raise regulatory concerns. Databricks and Fivetran are both at the forefront of the probe and are backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Bloomberg reported. Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the DOJ has not made any final determinations regarding the investigation into both companies, and it is possible that no action may be taken. Andreesen co-founder Ben Horowitz serves on the board of Databricks, while partner Martin Casado sits on Fivetran's board. Both companies provide data infrastructure and analytics tools to help businesses collect, manage and analyze large volumes of data, Bloomberg noted. Casado was previously on the board of dbt labs, which was ultimately acquired by Fivetran in June. The DOJ initially looked into the deal in October, but "cleared it unconditionally," the publication noted. Markets Anthropic CEO Says AI Could Cure Most Human Disease in 5-10 Years -- but Admits Big Promises Haven't Landed Amodei said AI could help cure many diseases within a decade, but real medical breakthroughs are needed to build public trust. 3 min read Read this article The investigation stems from the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, which prohibits the same person from serving as a director or officer of two competing corporations. The act was designed to prevent potential anticompetitive coordination and information-sharing. Latest Private Market Opportunities Join 400,000+ Investors The DOJ revived aggressive enforcement of this act during the Biden administration when Antitrust Division chief Jonathan Kanter told directors at more than a dozen boards to resign or abandon planned appointments, Bloomberg noted. Brookfield Asset Management, American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, Sun Country Airlines, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, N-able, Dynatrace, Solarwinds, Qualys, SumoLogic and F5, Inc. declined to appoint board members without acknowledging liability as a result of the probe at the time. Andreessen Horowitz currently has approximately $90 billion in assets under management, as of January 2026. The Silicon Valley-based firm is invested in major companies such as Anchorage Digital, Anduril, Databricks, Eleven Labs and Flexport, among others, its website states. SpaceX, which debuted on the public market earlier this year, was another investment of Andreesen's. The firm's portfolio also included OpenAI and Cursor. Earlier this year, the firm raised more than $15 billion with new funds including American Dynamism, Apps, Bio and Health, Infrastructure and Growth and other venture strategies, raising more than 18% of all venture capital dollars allocated to the U.S. in 2025, the company wrote in a press release at the time. Markets General Atlantic Reignites IPO Plans With JPMorgan, Goldman and Morgan Stanley General Atlantic has revived plans for a potential initial public offering with plans to debut as soon as this year. 2 min read Read this article Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.