Good morning.
With President Joe Biden’s announcement that he won’t seek re-election, all eyes have turned to Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee. We’re already seeing headlines reminding us that she’s a Black, Asian-American woman who’s “eminently qualified” to run for the top job. More on that later.
Tech leaders have been among the most willing to flag a favorite in the presidential race so far. Last week, after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio) as his running mate, Elon Musk said he’d spend $180 million to help elect Trump, despite the Republican nominee’s vow to end subsidies for EVs. Also supporting the Trump ticket are Musk’s fellow PayPal Mafia alums David O. Sacks and Peter Thiel, who co-wrote a book called The Diversity Myth almost 30 years ago—a bold stance for two white men raised in South Africa to take as apartheid was being dismantled.
Most leaders don’t pick a side, arguing politics is personal. So many were surprised to see VCs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz voice support for Trump last week, with the latter saying the future of technology and America was “literally at stake.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Trump’s reaction to being shot as “badass,” though he declined to officially endorse the man who called Facebook an “Enemy of the People.”
What seems to unite tech leaders on both sides of the aisle is a sense that the next four years of policy will be critical in determining the innovation landscape.
One of the first tech leaders to react enthusiastically to the news of Biden dropping out was Box CEO Aaron Levie. In a call yesterday, Levie told me of his support for the Democrats’ “full platform of business and social issues” and his frustration with their approach.
“A lot of people wish the Democratic party would stop shooting themselves in the foot,” he said. “I’d love to see them present a very clear tech policy.”
To him, that means supporting entrepreneurship, AI, and immigration policies that enable employers to hire skilled talent. While Biden’s CHIPS Act is a plus, Levie says, the administration’s regulatory moves and proposed tax on unrealized capital gains are not. Says Levie: “Without unrealized capital gains, you literally don’t have money to invest in equity, in startups.” Like many of his peers, Levie hopes that Bay Area-born Harris will promote conditions for Silicon Valley to thrive.
I did speak to one woman CEO yesterday who issued a missive that I’ll take to heart. “Please just cover [Harris] like you would cover a man in that role.” Given our instinct to hone in on women’s fertility, footwear, and feminine characteristics when covering them, I knew what she meant. I’m already hearing journalists compare Harris to Hillary Clinton and repeat insults that she’s ‘cackling’ or a ‘DEI’ candidate. Maybe that’s just politics or the mini-me syndrome that’s not unusual in places like Silicon Valley, where some seem to only recognize excellence in a form that reminds them of themselves.
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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