Silicon Valley investors applauded Donald Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his running mate, anticipating closer ties between the tech industry and Washington if Trump wins. Elon Musk and other tech leaders praised Vance, a former venture capitalist, highlighting his tech industry background and potential to influence policies favourably.
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By Lizette Chapman and Anna Edgerton
Major Silicon Valley investors hailed Donald Trump’s choice of Ohio senator and former venture capitalist JD Vance as his running mate, a move that puts the technology industry closer to center stage in Washington if the former president takes the White House in November. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Elon Musk called the decision a “great choice” and said the lineup “resounds with victory” on X, the social platform he owns. David Sacks, an investor and Trump supporter scheduled to speak at the GOP convention on Monday night, called Vance an “American patriot” in a post.
And at Founders Fund, a venture capital firm backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, partner Delian Asparouhov summed up the mood of many in his orbit, posting: “IT’S JD VANCE. WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH BABY.”
The Silicon Valley tech industry has long been a liberal bastion nestled in California, a Democratic stronghold, with roots in deeply progressive San Francisco. But a Republican contingent within tech has recently become increasingly visible, with major players like Musk, Sacks and Shaun Maguire from Sequoia Capital throwing their endorsements and donations to Trump for his White House bid against President Joe Biden.
Representatives for Thiel and Founders Fund didn’t provide comment on the announcement.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Vance in 2016 became a principal at Mithril Capital Management, a venture firm backed by Thiel, where he served a relatively brief stint. In 2017, he joined the Steve Case-backed firm Revolution LLC in Washington, as a partner focusing on startups. In 2019, he moved back to Ohio and formed Narya Capital. Taking a page from Thiel’s book, Vance made a Lord of the Rings reference with his new firm, naming Narya after a ring worn by the wizard Gandalf in the books. Narya was backed by Thiel, alongside other big-name investors including Eric Schmidt and Marc Andreessen.
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Vance’s proximity to the tech industry has thrilled even former Democrats in tech. One supporter is Chamath Palihapitiya, a former donor to Hillary Clinton who appears alongside Sacks on the tech podcast All In, where the hosts refer to each other as besties. After Trump’s announcement about Vance, he tweeted, “A Bestie adjacent as the VP?!?!?! ????????????????”
Crystal McKellar, founder and managing partner of Aloft VC, worked with Vance at Mithril Capital in 2012 and greeted the news enthusiastically.
“He will be good for Silicon Valley because he is a good free market capitalist who believes in growth and innovation and eliminating the regulation that strangles growth,” she said in a text. “And he’ll be good for the country for all the same reasons and because he feels genuine compassion for those forgotten and left behind by progress.”
Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, said that while he didn’t know Vance, 39, or his positions well, his pick was an encouraging sign. “I think having somebody who understands tech is great,” Murphy said. “We actually have a young candidate who seems to be tech savvy. I think it’s good for the party.”
Vance has had a somewhat complicated relationship with Silicon Valley. During his successful campaign for the Senate in 2022, which was backed by Thiel, he was critical of big tech companies, saying that they wield too much power and influence over politics. He argued that his background has positioned him to take on the “big tech oligarchy.”
Vance has also cheered the Biden administration’s tech-focused antitrust enforcement, especially Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. This sets Vance apart from Chamber of Commerce-type Republicans who have consistently criticized Khan’s broad interpretation of existing antitrust law to prosecute tech companies that don’t fit the profile of historic monopolies.
“I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is actually doing a pretty good job,” Vance said at a conference in February.
But while Vance’s criticism of large tech players may rankle some in the industry, it’s similar to sentiments expressed by smaller ones. Startups and venture capitalists have long complained that the size and power of big tech players had made it difficult for small companies to compete. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz has nicknamed the startup world “Little Tech,” and pointed out the difference in priorities between small companies and bigger firms.
Vance has also taken on Wall Street in other ways, backing legislation with Elizabeth Warren to claw back pay for bank executives when their institutions fail, and railroad companies with his Trump-endorsed safety bill with Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown after the East Palestine disaster.
He also bucked his party in leading support for the extension of an expired Biden program providing subsidies for broadband access for millions of people. Those bipartisan efforts had earned him plaudits from Democrats but didn’t succeed in getting bills enacted into law.
© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Trump Makes RNC Grand Entrance With Bandaged Ear After Shooting
By Hadriana Lowenkron and Stephanie Lai
Donald Trump made his first public appearance since getting shot in an assassination attempt, with a white bandage covering his right ear as Republicans gathered to nominate him as their presidential candidate for the third time.
The former president entered Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Monday to a standing ovation that lasted several minutes, during the Republican National Committee’s convention. He walked to a box near his family and stood next to US Senator JD Vance, whom he tapped earlier in the day as his 2024 running mate.
Trump didn’t speak, but the through-line of his populist doctrine was evident, from tapping Vance to the spate of speakers — which ranged from business executives to the head of the influential Teamsters union. They made the case for Trump’s approach with pledges to renew expiring tax cuts, slash regulations and hit other countries — both allies and adversaries — with tariffs.
“America, the land of opportunity, just doesn’t feel like that anymore,” said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a former Carlyle Group Inc. co-chief executive officer, who was seen as a favorite of Wall Street to be Trump’s running mate.
Trump’s selection of Vance, 39, also amounts to his anointing an heir apparent to carry on his populist doctrine.
Trump’s push for tariffs, which he has said could offset the cost of some tax cuts, threaten to boost prices for consumers and undermine economic growth.
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The parade of speakers on Monday, though, depicted an America in which they said working-class families are struggling because of Biden’s agenda, seeking to tap into polls showing unease with the incumbent’s economic policies.
That anxiety has been fueled by persistent inflation that has hammered US households and overshadowed Biden’s efforts to sell the public on investments in domestic manufacturing and infrastructure under his watch.
High Prices
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, whom Trump considered for a spot on the ticket, cast the Republican challenger’s approach as one which would help American families devastated by high prices and high taxes recover.
“I see our heartland filled with huge American factories, powered by abundant American energy, building what American needs, creating generational wealth for blue-collar workers,” Scott said.
A video during the convention touted Trump’s pledge to exempt tipped wages from taxes, a policy that portends to appeal to younger voters and people of color. The no-taxes-on-tips idea drew big applause from the delegates gathered in the convention hall.
Attendees waived signs saying “Make Housing Affordable Again” and “Make America Wealthy Again.”
Venture capitalist David Sacks lambasted Democrats, who he said “recklessly spent trillions of dollars of wasteful US government programs, setting off the worst inflation since Jimmy Carter.”
Sacks has been a symbol of Trump’s changing fortunes with the business community and has been a conduit to boost the Republican’s support and fundraising in Silicon Valley. Sacks’ criticism of Biden’s support for Ukraine, however, drew only tepid applause.
Populist Appeal
The Republican appeal to working-class voters is likely to intensify with Trump’s selection of Vance — a populist protege famous for Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about his upbringing in rural poverty, and who has been a strident defender of the former president’s worldview in the Senate.
Vance is from Ohio, a state Trump won easily in 2016 and 2020, but his value to the ticket will be in Midwestern swing states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Polls show voters rate the economy as a defining issue for the election — and in many of those states rank-and-file union members are worried about the impact of Biden’s transition to electric vehicles on jobs and wages.
Biden and Trump have waged a furious battle for union workers in those states — a fight which saw the president win the endorsement of the United Auto Workers after joining a picket line — and both have courted the support of the Teamsters.
Trump received a boost when Teamsters union President Sean O’Brien addressed the gathering, praising the former president for inviting him to an event that typically doesn’t feature labor leaders.
But O’Brien’s remarks also highlighted the divide in the Republican party about how to view labor unions and business interests. The Teamsters chief lambasted the US Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, a group representing corporate CEOs, as well as companies including Amazon.com Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., who he said prioritize profits over workers.
Under Trump, the party, which for years had a cozy relationship with the business community, has grown more skeptical about the role of business. That’s a view that Vance, who has called for a crackdown on major tech companies, represents.
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© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
