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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Steven Greenhouse

Billionaires are endorsing Trump – but is that a bad bargain for them?

a very rich man looks at another very rich man who is talking and gesticulating
The Blackstone CEO, Stephen Schwarzman, listens to Donald Trump at the White House on 3 February 2017. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, a growing number of billionaires, tech titans and venture capitalists are backing Donald Trump’s campaign for president, among them Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of Blackstone, the world’s largest private-equity fund, Steve Wynn, the casino tycoon, Bill Ackman, the hedge fund manager, and Marc Andreessen, a leading venture capitalist.

But many business school professors and historians are issuing stern warnings about this business support for Trump, saying that backing him could backfire badly for business and endanger America’s democracy. These professors caution that corporate America – along with everyone else – should be hugely concerned about a candidate who has talked of being a dictator on day one, terminating the constitution, and weaponizing the justice department to exact revenge against his critics.

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