Tech venture capitalist to donate to Harris after supporting Trump
Silicon Valley billionaire Ben Horowitz says Biden-Harris administration 'has been exceptionally destructive on tech policy across the industry'
Billionaire venture capitalist investor Ben Horowitz has announced a change of heart and will make a "significant donation" to groups supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
The about-face, first reported by Axios, comes after Horowitz and his business partner Marc Andreessen made headlines in July with major donations to former President Donald Trump's campaign. President Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee at the time.
Horowitz, co-founder of the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, confirmed his plans to financially support Harris by publishing an email sent internally to his firm. "I sent an internal email that Axios got a hold of it. Here it is. This is what it is, there is nothing else no matter how it gets characterized," Horowitz posted on X.
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Felicia Horowitz and Ben Horowitz arrive at the WACO Theater Center's 3rd Annual Wearable Art Gala at The Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport on June 1, 2019 in Santa Monica, California. (Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images / Getty Images)
In an email titled "Political Update," Horowitz writes that he and his wife Felicia have known Harris for more than a decade, and she's been "a great friend to both of us over that time."
"She’s also been a friend to the firm in our early days, helping with several events at my house when we built the original Cultural Leadership Fund network," he wrote. "As a result of our friendship, Felicia and I will be making a significant donation to entities who support the Harris Walz campaign."
Ben Horowitz, co-founder and partner of Andreessen Horowitz, right, and Felicia Horowitz arrive for the morning session of the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 10, 2019. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Horowitz did write with some trepidation regarding Harris' position on tech startups, noting that the Biden-Harris administration "has been exceptionally destructive on tech policy across the industry, but especially as it relates to Crypto/Blockchian and AI."
"Although I have had several conversations with Vice President Harris and her team on their likely tech policies and am encouraged by my belief in her, they have not yet stated what their tech policy will be, so the firm will not be updating its position in that regard," he writes.
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Ben Horowitz speaks onstage at the WIRED25 Summit 2019 - Day 1 at Commonwealth Club on Nov. 8, 2019, in San Francisco. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for WIRED / Getty Images)
Horowitz indicated he remains "very hopeful" that a potential Harris administration will be friendlier toward his "Little Tech Agenda."
Last year, Andreessen Horowitz announced its intent to make political donations to candidates that support "an optimistic technology-enabled future" while opposing candidates who "want to choke off important technologies."
In a blog post authored by Horowitz in December, he explained that the firm believes "America's best days are ahead if we retain our global technology leadership" but that could be undermined by "misguided regulatory policy."
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Fox Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.