4 ms·

Silicon Valley got what it wanted

31 points by dotcoma 2y ago

_mlbt 2y ago
Were there any other major Silicon Valley companies or executives that were pro-Trump other than Elon Musk and X? The whole premise of this post seems untrue on its face.
- viscanti 2y ago
  A16Z
  - xg15 2y ago
    Also Peter Thiel I believe.
    - _mlbt 2y ago
      Yes Peter Thiel, but he’s the only other one I’m aware of. That’s not exactly a groundswell of support from Silicon Valley.
    - nojvek 2y ago
      Look at Palantir stock. It has gone brrrrrr since announcement. VCs associated with All-in podcast are heavy Trump supporters. Crypto companies funded 100s of millions to Trump super pacs. Coinbase comes to mind.
    - reverius42 2y ago
      Also David Sacks I believe.
      - xg15 2y ago
        I read an interesting article recently about Thiel's, Musk's and Sacks' common career paths, views and ambitions. One point that stuck out for me was how all three of them had spent a significant part of their childhood in Apartheid-era South Africa, as part of the white ruling class (so learned of Apartheid as a good thing or even had family that belonged to the ruling class). This is well-known for Musk, but I think less so for Thiel and Sacks. Seems to me that gives their ultra-libertarian, "anti-woke", pro-inequality views another context. The article is in German, at https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000243890/tech-investor-peter-thiel-schattenpraesident-der-usa-und-feind-der-demokratie https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000243890/tech-investor...
  - _mlbt 2y ago
    Got a source for that?
- dgellow 2y ago
  - https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-swing-toward-trump-voting-data-2024-11 https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-swing-toward-... - https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/tech/a-segment-of-silicon-valley-is-suddenly-all-in-on-trump/ https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/tech/a-segment-of-silicon-vall... - https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-and-silicon-valleys-billionaire-elegy/ https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-and-silicon-valleys...
- underseacables 2y ago
  That's a difficult question to an answer. The employees of those companies were most if not entirely anti-Trump, so, if the CEO was pro Trump, then they may not have want to say anything in fear of upsetting the employees.
- random3 2y ago
  It must be untrue, because you’re unfamiliar with the matter? Here are some examples Susa Ventures https://x.com/lpolovets https://x.com/lpolovets Craft Ventures https://x.com/davidsacks https://x.com/davidsacks Keith Rabois (khosla Naval https://x.com/naval https://x.com/naval Balaji https://x.com/balajis https://x.com/balajis https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/silicon-valley-venture-capitalists-trump/680225/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/silic...
- bdjsiqoocwk 2y ago
  All of them...? Those with power want deregulation, those without want regulations that constrain those with power. Just so we're on the same page, those with power is corporate America, those without is everyone else.
  - _mlbt 2y ago
    Trump certainly did not have the backing of all of them… https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/silicon-valley-leaders-kamala-harris/story?id=112381644 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/silicon-valley-leaders-kamal...
- dotcoma 2y ago
  Bezos and Zuck moved to neutral… That is a fairly big change.
  - ijustwanttovote 2y ago
    Really I thought Bezos cancelled the WP opinion piece of endorsing Trump after they met up at Blue Origin?
    - dotcoma 2y ago
      no idea what you are referring to; This is what I am referring to: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5165353/washington-post-presidential-endorsement-trump-harris https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5165353/washington-post...
know-how 2y ago
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black_13 2y ago
[dead]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
some-guy 2y ago
SV, and California as an extension of that, has never been as liberal as people say it is. It has always been about money. Any "social justice" messaging a lot of tech companies professed was all a poker play in the current zeitgeist around the time. It has died down quite considerably because they see the direction the country is going--they would rather have a president that espouses populism without actually following through on most of their promises.

31 points by dotcoma 2y ago

Were there any other major Silicon Valley companies or executives that were pro-Trump other than Elon Musk and X? The whole premise of this post seems untrue on its face.

viscanti 2y ago
A16Z
- xg15 2y ago
  Also Peter Thiel I believe.
  - _mlbt 2y ago
    Yes Peter Thiel, but he’s the only other one I’m aware of. That’s not exactly a groundswell of support from Silicon Valley.
  - nojvek 2y ago
    Look at Palantir stock. It has gone brrrrrr since announcement. VCs associated with All-in podcast are heavy Trump supporters. Crypto companies funded 100s of millions to Trump super pacs. Coinbase comes to mind.
  - reverius42 2y ago
    Also David Sacks I believe.
    - xg15 2y ago
      I read an interesting article recently about Thiel's, Musk's and Sacks' common career paths, views and ambitions. One point that stuck out for me was how all three of them had spent a significant part of their childhood in Apartheid-era South Africa, as part of the white ruling class (so learned of Apartheid as a good thing or even had family that belonged to the ruling class). This is well-known for Musk, but I think less so for Thiel and Sacks. Seems to me that gives their ultra-libertarian, "anti-woke", pro-inequality views another context. The article is in German, at https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000243890/tech-investor-peter-thiel-schattenpraesident-der-usa-und-feind-der-demokratie https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000243890/tech-investor...
- _mlbt 2y ago
  Got a source for that?
dgellow 2y ago
- https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-swing-toward-trump-voting-data-2024-11 https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-swing-toward-... - https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/tech/a-segment-of-silicon-valley-is-suddenly-all-in-on-trump/ https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/tech/a-segment-of-silicon-vall... - https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-and-silicon-valleys-billionaire-elegy/ https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-and-silicon-valleys...
underseacables 2y ago
That's a difficult question to an answer. The employees of those companies were most if not entirely anti-Trump, so, if the CEO was pro Trump, then they may not have want to say anything in fear of upsetting the employees.
random3 2y ago
It must be untrue, because you’re unfamiliar with the matter? Here are some examples Susa Ventures https://x.com/lpolovets https://x.com/lpolovets Craft Ventures https://x.com/davidsacks https://x.com/davidsacks Keith Rabois (khosla Naval https://x.com/naval https://x.com/naval Balaji https://x.com/balajis https://x.com/balajis https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/silicon-valley-venture-capitalists-trump/680225/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/silic...
bdjsiqoocwk 2y ago
All of them...? Those with power want deregulation, those without want regulations that constrain those with power. Just so we're on the same page, those with power is corporate America, those without is everyone else.
- _mlbt 2y ago
  Trump certainly did not have the backing of all of them… https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/silicon-valley-leaders-kamala-harris/story?id=112381644 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/silicon-valley-leaders-kamal...
dotcoma 2y ago
Bezos and Zuck moved to neutral… That is a fairly big change.
- ijustwanttovote 2y ago
  Really I thought Bezos cancelled the WP opinion piece of endorsing Trump after they met up at Blue Origin?
  - dotcoma 2y ago
    no idea what you are referring to; This is what I am referring to: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5165353/washington-post-presidential-endorsement-trump-harris https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5165353/washington-post...

know-how 2y ago

[dead]

black_13 2y ago

[dead]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

some-guy 2y ago

SV, and California as an extension of that, has never been as liberal as people say it is. It has always been about money. Any "social justice" messaging a lot of tech companies professed was all a poker play in the current zeitgeist around the time. It has died down quite considerably because they see the direction the country is going--they would rather have a president that espouses populism without actually following through on most of their promises.