Tech for Trump: Silicon Valley investors turn against Biden

[Music] behind me a mega fundraiser for former president Trump is about to take place but this isn't maralago and it's not Trump Tower this is the heart of San Francisco a liberal Bastion of America but in recent years a growing circle of tech Elites is switching camps they're vocal they're emboldened and they're Filthy Rich this week on Tech check Silicon Valley turns to Trump it's a gathering of A-list Tech heavyweights and it signals a shift happening in the traditionally deep blue valleys of the Bay Area 50 Grand a ticket or 300,000 bucks a pop for a VIP ticket that includes a photo with the former president pocket change for the tech Founders and investors and attendance David saaks the venture capitalist who owns the Mansion he's one of the newer more vocal conservatives in the industry he donated to Republican candidate Mitt Romney's campaign in 2012 and then Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 this year he has thrown all his support behind the Republican Party supporting Florida Governor Ronda sanz's presidential bid and now hosting the first fundraiser for president Trump after his conviction the other host of the fundraiser VC chath Palapa has also switched allegiances he donated more than $250,000 to Biden in 2020 according to campaign records I am an apolitical person who has to make a difficult decision every four years and I think most of us are like that sax and poaa they make up half of the Allin podcast dedicated to giving an inside look at Tech investing in wealth it's amassed a loyal group of hundreds of thousands of listeners an episode and it's an example of how supporting Trump in the tech industry once vilified you but now can glorify you Unthinkable just a few years ago I know there's going to be a lot of people who support Trump but they don't want to admit it and I think that this event is going to break the ice on that and maybe it'll create a preference Cascade where all of a sudden it becomes acceptable to acknowledge the truth already signs of that shift Sax's San Francisco event was sold out the fundraising momentum is really on Trump's side right now he outraged Biden in April his campaign says he raised $141 million in May alone and a number of billionaires who swore never Trump have come back to him some say it's a small but vocal group supporting Trump that doesn't represent any kind to see change all in podcast and some of the supporters there are not based in the valley there's a bunch of MAA extremists in every part of society and uh I hope we can prevent them from destroying democracy which is probably the most important issue we Face others argue that they're giving cover to a larger group that is shifting their support those loud voices like Sachs and others give air cover for people to have personal beliefs San Francisco is a place and the tech industry is a place where it's always been hard to compartmentalized personal from professional for example yesterday I was with Ken Goldman the former Yahoo CFO who used to manage Eric Schmidt's home office and he says that folks he he talks to where he lives in Silicon Valley and in New York as well that there's really been a shift in support he calls it undercurrent support because people don't really want to raise their hands and it's not so much that it's Pro Trump it's not a huge amount of support for Trump as much as it is against Biden a group that increasingly includes insiders at silicon Valley's most prestigious Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital its track record includes early investments in the now Titans of the industry like apple Google Oracle YouTube and Instagram but seoa is also symbolic of a more openly divided Silicon Valley some Partners including Shan Maguire and longtime Republican Doug Leone are publicly backing Trump even doubling down after through the former president's guilty verdict Leone listing his concerns the immigration system ballooning deficit foreign policy missteps and more despite rebuking Trump in 2021 for inciting the January 6th riots Maguire announcing that he'll be cutting a $300,000 check to the ex-president but on the other side there's former Sequoia partner Michael Moritz he's a known Democrat and with hedge fund manager George Soros he poured $3.8 million into an anti-gp group last year the the size of Trump's recent donations also suggests a shift in who he's seeing support from back in 2016 large contributions that's those above $200 they made up just about 14% of his campaign's War chest in 2020 that grew to 51% today it makes up around 69% of his bank rooll meanwhile large contributions make up about 54% of Biden's donations so far this election cycle Trump and the Republican National Committee have raised more than $42 million from wealthy Mega donors that compares to about 35.5 million for Biden and the Democrats and it puts Trump at about a $7 million Advantage despite receiving funding from about half as many billionaires as for the recent defections many point to a loss of faith in Democrats whose policies they say are not open to Tech interests or are becoming more hostile towards them especially relative to president Trump's last term which saw corporate tax cuts that boost Ed the balance sheets of Mega caps he also got tough on China while creating exemptions to protect tech companies from those tariffs government contracts they went to defense startups like paler and his attacks on social media would prove toothless now in 2024 summon Tech see him as better than the alternative critics say Biden's pick for SEC chair Gary Gensler for example has been unreasonably hostile against cryptocurrencies calling the industry Rife with fraud scams bankruptcy and money laundering and when President President Biden appointed Lena Khan to have the FTC she vowed to Herald an antitrust Revolution cracking down on big Tech she's investigated and blocked dozens of mergers and Acquisitions the lifeblood of the startup industry so if you go back to like Obama's administration he was doing high-profile interviews with Mark Zuckerberg he hosted a Tech conference on the White House lawn he was loud and proud about how the tech industry was a jewel of America uh Biden has been much CER rep to the tech industry his policies related to Gig workers artificial intelligence have been noticeably more regulation heavy and that has seriously strained relations defense Tech is another industry aligning with the right after a government contract under Trump went to startups like paler a darling of tech and founded by the original Silicon Valley Trump supporter Peter teal Palmer lucky founder of the defense startup andrel and Oculus VR he's hosting another fundraiser for Trump after David Sachs in Orange County and Jacob hellberg is a senior paler executive who recently announced a $1 million donation to the Trump campaign after donating hundreds of thousands to Biden in 2020 Founders fund partner Delian as perov puts it this way for years ago you had to issue an apology if you even said you voted for him in 2024 every major defense Tech fund is sharing a stage with djt fake culture wars only distract us from our economic Decline and nobody in this race is being honest about it except Donald Trump that was Peter teal at the Republican National Convention in 2016 a turning point his support for candidate Donald Trump surprised many in Silicon Valley at the time 140 prominent technologists penned an open letter denouncing Trump's politics and the entire industry had publicly donated less than $3,000 to his campaign a fundraiser for Trump planned by the then CEO of Intel it was abruptly cancelled after the New York Times began probing his support of the Republican nominee teal the ultimate Tech Insider seemed like an outsider when it came to supporting Trump at odds with the uncomfortable Summit of big public Tech CEOs at Trump's white house shortly after he took office some tech commentators argued that teal did not represent Silicon Valley but more would come around even if they didn't explicitly support Trump they would Embrace his Politics the Republican agenda has been much friendlier or at least not as hostile towards the tech industry as the Democratic agenda one of the most dramatic shifts has come from one of Tech's most powerful and richest leaders Elon Musk a supporter of democratic candidates and policies in the past his political affiliations have evolved over the last few years he has promoted various prot Trump causes on his platform X those openly backing Trump Envision a presidency that benefits their interests if you don't believe that Trump is going to ignite World War III and end democracy as we know it um and I know a significant portion of the population does fear that so if you leave that aside generally uh a trump presidency could benefit the tech industry because again regulations against artificial intelligence cryptocurrency gig workers Republicans aren't pushing that agenda but maybe only as long as they stay in his good graces his opponents argue the former president is unpredictable and can make decisions based on personal vendettas Amazon for example blamed the former president for losing out on a major Cloud contract to Microsoft because he didn't like the company and more specifically it's CEO Jeff Bezos the majority of San Francisco still heavily liberal protesters flocked to the street outside of David sack's home ahead of the fundraiser while other opponents floated the Trump chicken in the San Francisco Bay that's a 33t flatable chicken that resembles the former president complete with a golden Sid swept hairdo and a striped prison jumpsuit many of Trump's exclusionary policies hit close to home for those working in Tech or living in the Bay Area especially around immigration and lgbtq plus policies most of the Venture capitalists that have publicly thrown their support behind Trump they make their living investing in private companies far fewer Executives of public companies have stepped into the spotlight with their endorsements a steeper ask when factoring in shareholder interests or potential consumer boycotts one thing though is clear as the presidential election approaches the political winds and Silicon Valley are shifting

Channel: CNBC Television

Views: 161,440

Keywords: app, business news, cnbc, digital, disrupt, funding, innovation, investors, nasdaq, nyse, online, silicon valley, startup, stock market, tech, techcheck, technology, venture, wall street

Id: tYa2QVmd4U4

Length: 10min 58sec (658 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 07 2024