Some of those on this list: Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures ($7.5 billion) and Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital ($1.2 billion).
More than 100 venture capitalists on Wednesday pledged to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris , taking on a small but vocal group of Trump -aligned tech executives who are pushing a narrative that Silicon Valley is leaning right.
Venture capitalists who have registered on VCsForKamala.org , which directs visitors to Harris’s donation page, include billionaires like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman ( worth an estimated $2.5 billion by Forbes ), Texas entrepreneur Mark Cuban ($5.4 billion), Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures ($7.5 billion), and Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital ($1.2 billion).
They join other billionaires including Melinda French Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, Reed Hastings, George Soros and Barry Diller who previously supported Harris’ campaign.
The VC effort on Harris’s behalf also comes as a coalition of high-profile Silicon Valley executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist David Sacks , are backing Trump, fueling questions about whether industry executives remain staunchly liberal and prompting anti-Trump tech stakeholders to speak out against the idea.
“They don’t speak for me … they don’t speak for most of us,” Leslie Feinzaig , founder of the firm Graham & Walker and organizer of VCsForKamala, told the New York Times , adding that “tweet after tweet of these guys coming out and supporting Trump” forced the group to pledge its support for Harris.
Background
Harris’s entry into the race injected a new sense of optimism into the Democratic Party, prompting an outpouring of donations, both large and small, and renewed support for the Democratic presidential campaign with her at the top of the ticket.
He raised $200 million in the first week since launching his candidacy, according to the campaign, and the pro-Harris super PAC Future Forward said it received $150 million in commitments in the 24 hours after Biden dropped out of the race.
Meanwhile, some key Democratic donors like Hoffman have pledged to support Harris.
Before Biden ended his campaign on July 21 and after his June 27 debate with Trump, Future Forward donors froze $90 million in commitments, the New York Times reported , while several wealthy donors, including billionaire Mark Pincus , Christy Walton , Michael Novogratz and Reed Hastings , called on Biden to step aside from the race.
Prominent venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz said they intend to donate to pro-Trump PACs, joining tech billionaires including Palantir co- founder Joe Lonsdale , cryptocurrency kingpins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and venture capitalists Antonio Gracias and Douglas Leone who have already donated to support Trump’s campaign, The Financial Times reported.
Sacks hosted a $12 million fundraiser for Trump at his San Francisco home in June, and Musk has publicly backed Trump, though he denied reports that he will contribute $45 million a month to a pro-Trump super PAC.
