Silicon Valley cheers JD Vance VP pick as more tech billionaires back Trump
Donald Trump’s selection of Sen. JD Vance as his 2024 running mate is seen as a potential windfall for Silicon Valley — and major tech VCs are going public with their support.
While best known as author of the hit memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which detailed the plights and concerns of Rust Belt voters, the Ohio Republican also has close ties to the tech industry.
Prior to entering politics, he worked as a venture capitalist alongside the likes of billionaire Peter Thiel, who co-founded PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund.
His nomination for vice president was a bullish sign for Silicon Valley donors who are betting a second Trump presidency would adopt tech-friendly policies such as a softer touch on AI and cryptocurrency regulations.
Vance also supports an antitrust crackdown on dominant Big Tech giants like Google who are accused of stifling smaller rivals — a popular position with so-called “little tech” startups backed by tech VCs.
He has also been critical of Section 230, a statute that shields tech platforms from liability for third-party content posted on their sites.
“[Vance] might be the embodiment of defending little tech,” one tech policy source who requested anonymity told The Post. “He is a big champion of AI and enabling tech innovation and he’s tough on China.”
The conservative has publicly called for a breakup of Google and is one of dozens of lawmakers who supports the Kids Online Safety Act, which would establish a legal duty of care for platforms such as Meta and TikTok to protect kids online.
He is one of a handful of so-called “Khanservatives,” or Republican lawmakers who have expressed support for Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Lina Khan — a Democrat who has rankled some establishment Republicans with a series of aggressive antitrust actions.
“I guess I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration who I think is doing a pretty good job,” Vance said at an antitrust conference sponsored by Y Combinator in February.
Vance’s stance aligns with that of Trump, whose FTC and Justice Department launched antitrust probes into Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple during his first term in office.
“President Trump and Vice President Vance will be the first crypto administration and will assemble the brightest minds in tech, AI, quantum computing, crypto, defense, transportation and biotech to create a renaissance in American dynamism and innovation,” Shervin Pishevar, a tech investor and managing director of EdisonAlpha Fund, told The Post.
One notable supporter is Elon Musk, who lauded Vance as a “great choice” and said the ticket “resounds with victory.”
Musk formally endorsed Trump after the Republican nominee narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
The billionaire Tesla CEO has also said he is committing about $45 million toward a new Trump political action committee called America PAC, which also has backing from the Winklevoss twins and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Elsewhere, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who co-founded the tech-focused VC fund that bears their name, have told employees that they are planning to donate large sums to unspecified PACs in support of Trump’s presidential bid, The Information reported.
Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov also celebrated the choice, writing emphatically on X: “WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH BABY.”
Omeed Malik, president of 1789 Capital, added: “He has authenticity in the MAGA ecosystem based on his lived experiences and can be the demographic bridge our country needs.”
Other notable tech VCs to back the Trump ticket include “All In” podcast hosts David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya — who recently hosted a $12 million fundraiser with Vance’s encouragement.
Sacks has described Vance as an “American patriot.”
A veteran of the US Marine Corps, Vance graduated from Yale Law School in 2013 and eventually went to work as a principal from 2016 to 2017 at Thiel’s investment firm Mithril Capital.
By 2020, Vance had started his own Ohio-based fund called Narya Capital, which drew major backing from Thiel and Andreessen as well as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and other Silicon Valley notables.
“He’s Thiel’s guy,” one VC source said. “He gave him a business, job, fund. The benefit is Trump picked someone very smart. I think it’s hard to be pro-tech and pro-Rust Belt. I don’t know if there is a way to thread the needle… I guess we will see.”
A Thiel spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
In 2021, Vance-led Narya reportedly made a “significant” investment in Rumble, an online video platform and YouTube competitor favored by conservatives.
Thiel also invested in a personal capacity.
Narya’s portfolio also includes a stake in Strive Asset Management, the fund started by former GOP presidential candidate and fellow Trump backer Vivek Ramaswamy that pressures corporate giants like Apple and Disney to keep politics out of business.
In 2022, Vance disclosed that he owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in bitcoin.
Meanwhile, President Biden has received fresh infusions from George Soros, who donated $5 million to the Biden-friendly Future Forward PAC, and Schmidt, who recently made six-figure donations to Biden’s campaign and the Democratic party, Bloomberg reported.
