Millions of American citizens volition beryllium heading to polling booths connected Tuesday, November 5, to take the adjacent president of the country. Their choices are Democratic statesmanlike campaigner Kamala Harris, who is the incumbent vice president, and erstwhile US President Donald Trump from the Republican side.
Silicon Valley has long-been considered arsenic the territory of tech progressives. But respective vocal tech billionaires specified arsenic Elon Musk person veered sharply to the close successful the past fewer years.
The question of whether it volition beryllium a Trump-led oregon Harris-run White House volition determine the country’s attack to tackling contentious issues related to artificial intelligence, societal media, antitrust regulation, and more.
While the tech manufacture does not look to person a wide favourite successful the 2024 US statesmanlike elections, present is simply a speedy look astatine the salient tech figures backing Harris, the tech executives cozying up to Trump, and the ones who are softly watching from the sidelines.
Which tech leaders are supporting Kamala Harris?
Tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who is astir apt champion known for his stint arsenic 1 of the judges of hit-reality amusement ‘Shark Tank, has publically endorsed Kamala Harris due to the fact that “she is not an ideologue” and has said that a 2nd Trump medication would beryllium devastating for tiny businesses. Interestingly, Cuban had supported Trump backmost successful 2015.
Vinod Khosla, different high-profile Silicon Valley investor, has said that helium volition beryllium voting for Harris successful the election. He has stakes successful startups specified arsenic DoorDash, Stripe, and Instacart with an estimated $15 cardinal successful assets, according to Bloomberg.
Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg endorsed Kamala Harris astir instantly aft incumbent US President Joe Biden pulled retired of the race. “[Harris] is an accomplished leader, a fierce advocator of termination rights, and the strongest campaigner to pb our state forward,” Sandberg said, adding that she was “thrilled to enactment her.”
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has privately donated implicit $50 million to a non-profit that is supporting Harris, according to a study by The New York Times.
Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates, who divorced her hubby Bill successful 2021, said she was throwing her value down Harris due to the fact that she is the “right candidate, close now.”
Reed Hastings, the enforcement president of Netflix, has donated implicit $7 cardinal towards Kamala Harris’ statesmanlike run via a ace governmental enactment committee (PAC).
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was 1 of 88 concern leaders to motion an unfastened missive extending enactment for Harris to beryllium the adjacent US president.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has not publically endorsed immoderate campaigner successful the US elections. However, the Harris Victory Fund was the recipient of a donation from Altman, according to Fortune.
Who are the large players backing Donald Trump?
Tech mogul Elon Musk has been touted arsenic a ‘Trump’ paper successful this election. While Tesla and SpaceX CEO had refrained from endorsing anyone successful the erstwhile 2020 polls, Musk has intelligibly gone each successful for Donald Trump this year. The richest antheral successful the satellite has been aggressively campaigning for the Republican nominee, some physically arsenic good arsenic connected his societal media level X.
Musk has said helium is unfastened to heading up a authorities section if Trump wins, and has expressed concerns that helium mightiness beryllium thrown successful jailhouse if Harris becomes the president.
The richest antheral successful the satellite has not hesitated successful utilizing his immense luck to power the election. His $1 million-dollar regular giveaway to a random idiosyncratic successful a plaything authorities managed to make a batch of buzz, with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) arguing that the lottery was amerciable arsenic per predetermination law. However, a territory tribunal successful Pennsylvania, US, declined to artifact the giveaway connected Monday.
PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who was besides a large capitalist successful Facebook, has said helium volition ballot for Trump but refused to marque immoderate contributions to the erstwhile president’s campaign. “I americium inactive precise powerfully pro-Trump, pro-JD. I’ve decided not to donate immoderate wealth politically, but I’m supporting them successful each different mode possible,” helium said astatine an lawsuit successful September this year.
Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz, who caput 1 of the biggest task superior firms successful Silicon Valley, person said that they are supporting and voting for Donald Trump arsenic they judge that the Biden medication has stifled startups done over-regulation and taxation, according to a study by Tech Crunch.
Former Sequoia Capital caput Douglas Leone is yet different Silicon Valley elite who is backing Trump successful this election. “I person go progressively acrophobic astir the wide absorption of our country, the authorities of our breached migration system, the ballooning deficit, and the overseas argumentation missteps, among different issues,” Leone wrote successful a station connected X.
Who hasn’t publically backed anyone yet?
Only 1 CEO of a Fortune 500 institution (Elon Musk) has publically endorsed Trump. However, it is simply a antithetic communicative successful private. In the weeks starring up to predetermination day, Trump has claimed that helium has received respective calls from apical tech CEOs.
According to the erstwhile US president, Google CEO Sundar Pichai praised Trump for serving nutrient astatine a McDonald’s arsenic portion of his campaign. Apple main Tim Cook besides supposedly dialled him to sermon the iPhone maker’s regulatory woes successful the European Union.
Meanwhile, Trump said that Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg had called him aft the assassination effort against the erstwhile successful July this year.
Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos, connected the different hand, reportedly intervened to halt The Washington Post from publishing an endorsement of Kamala Harris. The billionaire purchased the paper for $250 cardinal successful 2013. More than 2 lakh radical reportedly cancelled their integer subscriptions of The Washington Post aft Bezos blocked the Harris endorsement.