In a matter of weeks, LinkedIn cofounder and Democratic Party super-donor Reid Hoffman has gone from pouring at least $10 million into Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign to contemplating a U.S. exodus.
Hoffman told close friends and associates he is considering a move overseas, three anonymous sources told the New York Times last week. The 57-year-old tech mogul, who helped finance E. Jean Carroll’s private sexual assault lawsuits against Donald Trump, reportedly said he fears retribution from the president-elect. Trump has been explicit in his intention to seek vengeance on his political enemies, saying, “Sometimes revenge can be justified.” The remarks came after he was convicted of 34 felony charges related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Hoffman, through a spokesperson, declined to comment to Fortune.
The billionaire founder’s defeatism—and private contemplation about leaving the U.S.—are shared by a cadre of wealthy Democratic Party backers, who have been left licking their wounds and trying to move forward after Harris’s defeat, the Times reported. More than 80 billionaires backed Harris’s election bid, with many, including Mark Cuban and 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, arguing in a September letter she would "continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability and a sound business environment." At the biannual meeting of the Democracy Alliance convened last month in Washington, where Democratic donors hash out where to allocate their money, attendees described the event as feeling like a “funeral.”
The wealthy are fleeing
Hoffman’s potential move is a mouthwatering prospect for America’s wealthy. More than half of U.S. millionaires said they planned to leave the country following the election, regardless of who became president, according to global citizenship financial advocacy group Arton Capital. More Harris supporters than Trump supporters expressed interest in the drastic move.
The search for a second or third passport comes as economic uncertainty under a new president reaches a fever pitch, according to Arton Capital CEO Armand Arton. While Trump’s policies are more likely to favor the rich, emigrating elsewhere may simply feel like a freeing option for those with the means to do so.
“Americans are engulfed in a political wildfire,” David Lesperance, an international tax and immigration advisor for the ultrawealthy, told Fortune ahead of the election. “Their natural reaction is to fight the political wildfire through voting, lobbying, political donations, etc. However, many realize that even with their most earnest firefighting efforts, it is called a wildfire for a reason. That is why they are getting the fire insurance of a second residence or citizenship.”
Hoffman’s trouble with Trump
Even prior to election day, Hoffman expressed his concerns about a Trump reelection and its implications for entrepreneurs who publicly criticized the former president. Hoffman’s own pushback against Trump had material consequences: In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and for defaming Carroll over her allegations, awarding her $5 million in the judgment of the civil cases Hoffman helped fund.
“I literally talk to business leaders who are fearful about speaking out against this because they're fearful of retaliation,” Hoffman said in a June CNN interview.
Former American Express CEO Ken Chenault backed up Hoffman’s suspicions, arguing in a Bloomberg interview that fear is the reason CEOs have held their tongue around Trump. That retaliation could take the form of IRS audits or using means to jail people without due process, Hoffman suggested.
“Americans who prize respect for the law, stability and prosperity—including even business leaders who might value the last of these most highly—should take Mr. Trump literally and seriously,” Hoffman wrote in the Economist.
