Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital
Scott Millian | CNBC
As major tech investors continue to take a clear stance ahead of the 2024 presidential election, legendary entrepreneur Michael Moritz is making his preferences clear.
In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Monday, Moritz wrote that those in the industry who support Donald Trump are “making a big mistake.”
Moritz, who joined Sequoia Capital in 1986 and went on to make highly profitable bets on companies including GoogleThe founders of PayPal and LinkedIn criticized Trump's supporters in Silicon Valley as self-interested and questioned why so many smart, successful people were “willing to turn a blind eye to Trump.”
“I doubt any of them would want to be part of an investment syndicate they organized,” wrote Moritz, who stepped down from Sequoia last year after more than a decade in management. “So why would they dismiss his recent criminal conviction as a politically motivated witch hunt over a simple accounting error?”
Andreessen Horowitz founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz recently announced their support for Trump. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk publicly endorsed him moments after the assassination attempt last month. Other Trump backers include venture capitalists David Sachs and Joe Lonsdale as well as Doug Lyon, Moritz’s longtime partner at Sequoia.
Trump’s financiers and tech backers “are making the same mistake as all powerful people who back autocrats,” wrote Moritz, now a senior adviser at Sequoia’s wealth management arm. Moritz was referring to Trump’s conviction earlier this year on 34 felony charges in a New York state court. Trump has said he will appeal the verdict, and many of his allies have dismissed his trial as “rigged.”
Moritz said he doesn’t think Trump will prevail in Silicon Valley come November, citing his historically poor showing there. He’s not alone in his opposition.
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman has been a prominent Democratic backer, throwing his weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden before that. Last week, more than 100 venture capitalists pledged support for Harris, the de facto Democratic nominee, as she ramps up her campaign to take on Trump. As of Monday, more than 700 people had signed the “Venture Capitalists for Kamala” pledge.
Moritz has a multibillion-dollar fortune that allows him to give generously to charity. He was knighted in 2013 in part for his charitable work. Moritz has made large donations to Democratic causes, including a $4.8 million donation earlier this year to American Bridge 21st Century, which is planning a $140 million anti-Trump advertising campaign. He has also donated to the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.
His Republican donations have included previous support for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was governor of California, Mitt Romney in 2007, and John Kasich's runs for governor of Ohio in 2010 and 2014, according to OpenSecrets.
Moritz wrote that wealthy financiers either believe “they will be able to control Trump,” or they are making “another fatal mistake: deluding themselves that he will not do what he says or promises.”
“This was not the modus operandi of tyrants over the centuries,” he wrote.
Watch: Technology for Trump
