Silicon Valley Tech Titans Throw Financial Weight Behind Trump's 2024 Campaign

Andreessen Horowitz founders the latest to stake Trump, as tech money piles into his coffers

The leaders of the eponymous Silicon Valley firm Andreessen Horowitz are still evaluating which Trump-affiliated organization or organizations to back and will make the decision shortly, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous discussing private information. The donations will be personal contributions from the two men, not from the firm itself. And they won't be as substantial as the $45 million a month billionaire Elon Musk has said he will contribute to Trump's election. Other partners at the firm are also considering making their own contributions, the person said. Andreessen Horowitz, one of the best-known firms in tech, has become more enmeshed in politics in recent months. The firm has been stepping up its Washington lobbying footprint, and last year Horowitz wrote that its partners would seek to back candidates who support an "optimistic, technology-enabled future" and oppose "misguided" tech regulations. In June, Andreessen spoke at a Trump fundraiser. The Information earlier reported some details of the donations. Andreessen and Horowitz, who made fortunes by helping grow tech startups into behemoths, wrote a blog post earlier this month lamenting that the American government is now "far more hostile to new startups than it used to be." Andreessen has also sounded the alarm about the impact of regulations on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence -- areas where some expect Trump to be more friendly to the industry. The investors join a long line of prominent figures in tech and finance who are now backing Trump. The candidate has won endorsements from Musk, Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire and VC David Sacks, who hosted a San Francisco fundraiser for Trump that brought in $12 million. Crypto billionaires Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss made the maximum $844,600 to Trump's reelection committees, and also combined to give $500,000 to the same super PAC Musk supports. Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman and Elliott Investment Management founder Paul Singer both donated to Trump. The flood of cash has allowed Trump, whose war chest trailed Biden's by nearly $100 million at the end of March, to overtake his rival. Trump entered July with $285 million cash on hand, topping Biden's $240 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Andreessen and Horowitz could pad that advantage. They rank among the 10 biggest donors in the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets, and have each donated, either individually or through their venture capital firm, more than $24 million. The biggest recipient of their largesse is Fairshake, a nonpartisan super PAC that supports or opposes candidates based on their positions on the cryptocurrency industry. Andreessen Horowitz donated $44 million to Fairshake under the name AH Capital Management, FEC records show. Their contributions are attributed to its founders, Andreessen and Horowitz, who were each the source of $22 million.

Silicon Valley's tech titans line up to donate to Donald Trump

US technology and business leaders including Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital pioneer Doug Leone and the Winklevoss twins have donated to a new super-political action committee supporting Donald Trump's presidential bid. America Pac has raised more than $8.7mn since its launch in June, according to a public filing, including several $1mn donations from Silicon Valley investors who have publicly backed Trump in recent weeks. The donors include Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire and Valor Equity Partners founder Antonio Gracias, as well as Leone, a co-founder of Sequoia Capital, and Lonsdale of 8VC and Palantir. One person with direct knowledge of the super Pac said Tesla and X chief executive Elon Musk was planning to make a donation. Musk is a close business associate of many of the donors, including Lonsdale. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Coal titan Joe Craft, the chief executive of Alliance Resource Partners, as well as Jimmy John Liautaud, the founder of the Jimmy John's sandwich chain, also each made $1mn donations, while Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each donated $250,000, the filings showed. Silicon Valley has long been considered one of the most liberal regions in the US, but some tech leaders, disenchanted with President Joe Biden's positions on regulation and taxes, have been tilting politically to the right. Trump, in turn, has played to libertarian-leaning entrepreneurs and venture capitalists with pledges to protect free speech and support the cryptocurrency industry. Musk endorsed Trump on Saturday, shortly after an assassination attempt on the Republican candidate at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. "Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt," Musk wrote on X. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman also said on Saturday he was "formally" endorsing Trump. Musk also praised Trump's "excellent" pick of senator JD Vance, a former venture capitalist, as his running mate on Monday. "Trump-Vance," Musk wrote on X. "Resounds with victory." Musk had previously supported Democrats including Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Vance has long-standing ties to elite technology circles, having worked for Peter Thiel's venture fund Mithril Capital in San Francisco between 2015 and 2017 and later for Washington-based venture fund Revolution, started by AOL chief executive Steve Case. Thiel gave $15mn to support Vance's Senate run in 2022 through a donation to the Protect Ohio Values Pac, according to federal election records. Jacob Helberg, a Palantir executive and big Trump donor, said Vance was "a pro-technology and pro-America First pick who will be an extraordinary advocate for President Trump's agenda and the American people". Vance also launched his own venture firm Narya Capital in 2020 with backing from Thiel, Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen, start-up investor Scott Dorsey and former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based firm, which had assets under management of about $200mn last year, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, aimed to channel more Silicon Valley funding into US cities underserved by tech investment. Some of Silicon Valley's most prominent figures have become increasingly active in supporting the Trump campaign. Venture capitalist David Sacks, who hosted a fundraiser last month at his San Francisco home, where Vance introduced Trump, spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday. Keith Rabois, a managing director at Khosla Ventures, told the Financial Times he would also donate $1mn to support Trump. According to 2022 disclosures, the most recent data available, Vance held personal investments in more than 100 public and private companies including Anduril Industries, a Thiel-backed artificial intelligence defence group, and space simulation company Slingshot Aerospace, along with up to $100,000 worth of Walmart shares. Vance also personally invested in controversial video platform Rumble, owning a stake worth up to $300,000 in 2022, and in Christian prayer app Hallow, in which his stake was worth up to $100,000 that year. Vance also disclosed ownership of between $100,001 and $250,000 in bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2022.

Silicon Valley's Tech Billionaires Lean Into Trump Campaign, Promising Millions of Dollars for GOP Coffers

Billionaire Elon Musk is promising to donate $45 million a month to help elect President Trump. Silicon Valley's most influential billionaires are queuing up to line President Trump's pockets four months out from the presidential election, with billionaire Elon Musk promising $45 million a month through Election Day. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Mr. Musk, the owner of X and chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, plans to begin donations to the America PAC, a committee supporting Trump, this month. The committee also has other high-profile donors, like a Sequoia partner, Shaun Maguire, and the Valor Equity Partners founder, Antonio Gracias. Two venture capitalists, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, have also told staff at their firm that they are backing Trump, according to the Financial Times. "This is a new endeavor because they feel there is so much at stake on the crypto side, on the AI agenda at the firm," one person familiar with their plans said. Two major cryptocurrency investors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have also made major donations to Trump, according to Federal Elections Commission filings. The tech capitalists are only the most recent of America's richest to throw their weight behind the Republican nominee. Other traditional Republican backers, like the Alliance Resource Partners chief executive, Joe Craft, have donated at least $1 million to Trump, even after supporting his primary opponents. The news of Mr. Musk's major investment in Trump's election efforts comes as some of Silicon Valley's wealthiest investors appear to have had a hand in Trump's vice presidential choice. In selecting Senator Vance as his running mate, Mr. Trump embraced a protégé of billionaire Peter Thiel, who was once a major financial backer of Trump but whose donations had dried up in recent years. Axios reports that Mr. Musk and billionaire David Sacks were pushing for Trump to choose Mr. Vance behind the scenes. While it's not known whether Mr. Thiel will be resuming donations to Trump himself, he has previously said he won't be supporting either party in 2024.

Silicon Valley is turning to Trump. Here's why

Cryptobros the Winklevoss twins to Elon Musk are throwing their support behind Donald Trump's presidential bid. Major tech titans and investors in the United States, including Palantir's co-founder, the Winklevoss twins, and reportedly Elon Musk, are backing Donald Trump's presidential bid by donating to a political committee supporting the former US president. Musk, who has endorsed Trump on Saturday, said he is planning to pledge $45 million (€41 million) a month to the committee called America PAC, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. As of the end of June, the SpaceX and X boss has not yet given any money to America PAC, according to a quarterly financial filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Monday. It is unclear if he donated to the committee in July. The PAC did show that it received financial contributions from Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, who donated $1 million (€917,000) through Lonsdale Enterprises, an entity linked to him. The filings also showed the cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each donated $250,000 (€230,000). Meanwhile, Joe Craft, the chief executive of coal producer Alliance Resource Partners and the flounder on the Jimmy John's sandwich chain, also made $1 million in donations each. The Silicon Valley tech industry in California, a Democratic stronghold, has notably been a liberal region. But President Joe Biden's taxes and regulations on companies have pulled companies more to the right. According to the Washington Post, Trump has promised donors at fundraisers to enact policies that work in their favour such as cutting corporate taxes, approving oil permits, and throwing pro-Palestinian demonstrators out of the US. He has also done a U-turn on cryptocurrency. During his time in office, Trump deemed crypto a "scam" and a "disaster waiting to happen". But since running for office, the Republican Party has adopted a platform that supports crypto innovation. "Republicans will end Democrats' unlawful and un-American crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency," according to the document. "We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their digital assets, and transact free from government surveillance and control". Trump's pick for his vice-president, Senator JD Vance, a former venture capitalist with investments in tech and crypto companies, could also further sway Silicon Valley. "It's JD Vance. We have a former tech VC in the White House. Greatest country on earth baby," posted Delian Asparouhov, partner at a VC firm The Founders Fund, which is backed by Peter Thiel. Trump-Vance "resounds with victory," echoed Musk on his platform X. Vance invested in firms such as Christian prayer app Hollow, and Anduril Industries, a Thiel-backed artificial intelligence (AI) defence company, and said in 2022 he had between $100,000 (€91,000) and $250,000 (€230,000) tied up in Bitcoin.

Silicon Valley Royalty Put on the MAGA Hat, Open Their Wallets

The unhinged moneymen of Silicon Valley are all in on MAGA. Offended? They say it's strictly business. Silicon Valley has officially gone MAGA. For evidence of this, you need look no further than the fact that the two co-founders of one of the tech industry's most influential venture capital firms, Andreessen Horowitz, have quietly announced that they will begin sending large gobs of cash to the Trump campaign. Marc Andreessen, and his long-time business partner, Ben Horowitz, are both planning on contributing an unknown amount of money to the Trump campaign, sources aware of the situation have told The Information (Axios later confirmed). It is apparently the first time either of them will have contributed to a presidential candidate's campaign. The duo are just two of a growing number of Silicon Valley tech executives who have recently voiced support for Trump, a surprising turn of events for those who have viewed the tech industry as a historically liberal town. However, it would appear that the primary motivating factor here is economics, not ideology. A source told Axios that Andreessen and Horowitz are looking for the leader that they think will be most amenable to their business interests and that the donations are thus "motivated by areas like crypto and AI regulation, without regard to other issues like abortion or the Supreme Court." It may initially seem difficult to grasp this assessment, given that Trump once said he was "not a fan" of cryptocurrencies and has, for the most part, seemed to have little interest in artificial intelligence except to occasionally claim that his campaign gaffes were the result of it. However, in recent months, Trump's campaign seems to have shifted to tech issues, further aligning itself with Silicon Valley's most prized investments. Trump recently suggested that he would throw out the relatively tame and innocuous AI executive order Biden issued earlier this year, and has plans to unleash the floodgates when it comes to AI development, effectively freeing tech bigwigs like Andreessen to pursue their moronic goal of "techno-optimistic" manifestation. Trump, whose campaign has reaped a small amount in Dogecoin donations, has also come around on crypto and is scheduled to give a speech at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville later this month. Could the influx of cash from the tech industry's coffers and this sudden ideological pivot have anything to do with one another? I will leave that up to you to decide, dear reader. Marc Andreessen's support for Trump seems pretty straightforward. Indeed, the two men fit together quite well. In addition to the daft, greed-addled manifesto about capitalism and technology that he published last year, Andreessen's recent emphasis has been on propping up nationalistic, pro-America defense startups. All of that seems quite at home with the MAGA worldview which, in general, is pro-defense, pro-deregulation, and, of course, pro-rich people (just check out those Trump tax breaks). Andreessen and his crowd want someone who is going to be completely hands-off when it comes to the tech industry's more ludicrous ambitions and, currently, Trump seems to fit that bill. Even less surprising is the fact that Elon Musk, Silicon Valley's most prominent edgelord billionaire, now appears to be committing an absurd amount of money to a PAC designed to get Trump elected. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk would begin doling out "$45 million a month" to America PAC, a political action committee that, as the New York Times has reported, was founded by some of Musk's "closest friends." The newspaper cited "people familiar with the matter," as evidence. On Tuesday, Musk seemed to disavow the report, tweeting out a meme in response to the story that said: “FAKE GNUS.†However, when a commenter on the post said that Musk had gone from "being an Obama voter to pledging $180 million to elect DJT" Musk responded: "Yeah." The apparent red-pilling of Elon has been a long, loud process, replete with many, many red flags. One of the most prominent of said flags was Musk's 2022 decision to buy Twitter, rename it X, and effectively convert it into a scaled version of 4chan. Ever since then, Musk has used the platform to promulgate a flood of rightwing conspiracy theories, anti-woke diatribes, and dopey, pro-capitalist musingsâ€"an ideological strain that, for the most part, is highly compatible with the Trump base. Not only has Musk long been chummy with Trump, but he also clearly despises Biden and, on Saturday, following the attempt on Trump's life, Musk formally endorsed Trump for President. The same PAC that was founded by Musk's friends (and which is reportedly getting funding from Musk) is also backed by a number of prominent tech industry tycoons, including the co-founder of creepy defense contractor Palantir Joe Lonsdale and the two Facebook-wannabe dolts, the Winklevoss twins, the Journal writes. In short: prominent members of Silicon Valley's power elite have officially gone MAGA. Given the recent panics in San Francisco over homeless people, "wokeness" and Biden's "unfriendly" approach to business interests, it wouldn't be surprising if this is just the beginning.

Musk Could Join Some Silicon Valley Moguls in Funding Trump's Presidential Bid: Report - Alliance Res Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP), Trump Media & Technology (NASDAQ:DJT)

Silicon Valley shows increased political shift supporting Trump's campaign. U.S. technology and business leaders, including Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR co-founder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital pioneer Doug Leone, and the Winklevoss twins, have donated to a new super-political action committee supporting Donald Trump's presidential bid. America PAC has raised more than $8.7 million since its launch in June, the Financial Times cites from a public filing. Several $1 million donations came from Silicon Valley investors who have recently publicly supported Trump. Also Read: As Trump's Chances Of Presidency Improve, Analysts Say His Return To White House Could Boost These 3 Sectors The donors include Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire, Valor Equity Partners founder Antonio Gracias, Doug Leone, and Joe Lonsdale. The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, each contributed $250,000. Additionally, coal titan Joe Craft, CEO of Alliance Resource Partners ARLP, and Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of the Jimmy John's sandwich chain, made $1 million in donations. One person with direct knowledge of the super PAC mentioned that Elon Musk plans to commit $45 million a month, WSJ report says. However, Elon Musk 'denied' the report, although not directly but via a meme posted on his social media platform X. Traditionally considered a liberal stronghold, Silicon Valley has seen some tech leaders shift politically to the right, driven by dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden's policies on regulation and taxes. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photos by Frederic Legrand - COMEO on Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

More Tech and Venture Capital Execs Are Coming Out as MAGA Believers

It was barely half an hour after shots rang out at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania, with the candidate apparently among the wounded, that Elon Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, and formally backed him for president. "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk wrote, sharing video of the chaotic scene. He meanwhile set about blaming the Secret Service for the attempted assassination, which killed one attendee and injured two others, and amplifying posts that implied their "diversity hires" were a factor in the failure to prevent it. For anyone who has followed Musk's descent into right-wing fear-mongering and conspiracy theories, the Trump endorsement comes as no surprise; reports from the day prior even confirmed that the billionaire has donated to America PAC, a new pro-Trump organization spending millions to mobilize his voters ahead of Election Day. Musk has also railed against President Biden -- whom he voted for in 2020 -- in posts about border policy and the Democrat's mental fitness, all as the conservative figures he interacts with on the site encouraged him to join the Republican camp. Yet Saturday's shooting by a 20-year-old assailant killed on the scene, which galvanized the MAGA base thanks in part to images of a bloodied Trump holding up his fist as Secret Service agents tried to move him to safety, provided a unique opportunity for Musk and others in his orbit to make their support for the former president explicit. Hours after the words of support from Musk, billionaire Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square (as well as a notorious "wife guy"), wrote a lengthy post of his own announcing that he would back Trump. Ackman did not mention the shooting and wrote he'd come to the decision "some time ago," based on "as much empirical data as possible." Venture capitalist Shaun Maguire, partner at the Bay Area firm Sequoia Capital, applauded Ackman's statement. "I have extremely high respect for people that are willing to change their minds as new data comes in," he posted. Maguire had signaled his commitment to the campaign at an earlier dramatic moment: After Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts by a New York jury in May, he donated $300,000 to the campaign, writing in his own statement that he was "prepared to lose friends" and have the media "demonize" him. Maguire and Ackman are hardly alone among the tech and finance execs predicting that their Trump-boosting will have social consequences. James Ingallinera, who recently launched a neurotech startup that he says will use artificial intelligence to improve mental health, went viral with a post claiming that it's a "social death sentence" to back Trump in San Francisco, where he lives. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the shooting, he was moved to do so "publicly and unabashedly," because a "very serious line was crossed today." On the other hand, some observers -- such business lawyer, startup advisor, and podcaster Matt Bilinsky -- saw the assassination attempt as a turning point that would dissolve the taboo preventing many from signaling their intent to vote for Trump. Among those who agreed with this assessment was Stepfanie Tyler, an entrepreneur running a "monthly AI photography magazine," who said it "feels so good to be out of the closet." The night of the Pennsylvania rally, she also posted a description of her journey from graduating with a degree in women's studies in 2012, to voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016, to eventually becoming disillusioned with Democrats and aligning with Trump's movement. Tyler noted that "watching Trump survive an assassination attempt and act like a total fucking savage just shifted me into some strange, patriotic gear," and said it was "freeing" to declare her true political identity. The post has more than 200,000 likes, and Musk personally shared it in a quote post, adding two flame emojis. He also replied to a post from Abhay Venkatesh, an AI product engineer at the defense contractor Anduril Industries, founded by Palmer Luckey, a longtime Silicon Valley donor for Trump. (The firm won a military AI contract during the Trump administration and makes surveillance tech installed along the U.S.-Mexico border.) Venkatesh posted that he had seen people "just casually walking around [San Francisco] with Trump hats," and that "Something has changed." Musk replied, "Yes." And Trump's ties to the elite enclaves of big tech and venture capital grew even stronger on Monday, the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, when he announced Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his 2024 running mate. Vance, once a harsh critic of Trump and author of the bestselling memoir-turned-movie Hillbilly Elegy, used to work at billionaire Peter Thiel's San Francisco investment firm Mithril Capital and founded his own VC fund, Narya Capital, with money from Thiel and another tech billionaire, Marc Andreessen. Thiel was one of Trump's earliest and most prominent Silicon Valley supporters, dating back to 2016; Andreessen has not endorsed Trump's latest campaign but has stepped up his negative comments about Biden and posted an image of an American flag after the shooting. Whether the stigma attached to MAGA culture is truly softening in deep-blue California, it's clear that players large and small in its business culture feel emboldened and energized by the attempt on Trump's life. Musk and his far-right Twitter friends have meanwhile done everything they can to elevate those voices and convince other people reluctant to share their admiration for Trump that the time to start is now. Naturally, some of the rich and powerful will keep their cards close to the vest, though in a few cases, their neutral remarks from Saturday were a little fawning toward the former president. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, not exactly a fan of Biden, praised Trump's "tremendous grace and courage under literal fire." Just sympathetic, or swayed by the moment? Only the owner of The Washington Post knows for sure. In any case, it's looking like a honeymoon period for Trump and the wealthiest people in the country.