Billionaire Ben Horowitz pledges significant donation to Kamala Harris in major reversal
Billionaire tech investor Ben Horowitz is planning to make a “significant” donation to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris – a major reversal just months after he and business partner Marc Andreessen endorsed former President Donald Trump.Horowitz revealed his about-face in a letter to Andreessen Horowitz staffers, writing that he and his wife, Felicia, had “known Vice President Harris for over 10 years” and that the former California attorney general has “been a friend to the firm in our early days.”“As a result of our friendship, Felicia and I will be making a significant donation to entities who support the Harris Walz campaign,” Horowitz wrote in the letter, which was first obtained by Axios.Horowitz and Andreessen led a surprise Silicon Valley shift toward the Republican Party when they pledged to support Trump after President Joe Biden’s debate debacle in June.Andreessen retweeted Horowitz’s posts about the letter on X, though he did not reveal if his own position toward Harris has changed — a possible sign that the pair may be trying to hedge their bets on who will win the White House as polls show Harris and Trump neck-and-neck after Biden’s exit from the race.Horowitz admitted that his change of heart comes despite Harris’ lack of any concrete plans for the tech industry.
“Although I have had several conversations with Vice President Harris and her team on their likely tech policies and am encouraged by my belief in her, they have not yet stated what their tech policy will be, so the firm will not be updating its position in that regard,” he wrote in his letter.Some tech bigwigs have placed bets that Trump is more likely to support a friendly regulatory agenda for startups in the growing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency sectors.The trend sparked a heated debate in the tech industry, which has traditionally leaned toward Democrats.“The Biden Administration has been exceptionally destr...