Donald Trump's choice of Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate for 2024 is being seen as a potential windfall for Silicon Valley, with major tech venture capital firms voicing their support.
The Ohio Republican is best known as the author of the blockbuster memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which detailed the plight and concerns of Rust Belt voters, but he also has close ties to the tech industry.
Before entering politics, he worked as a venture capitalist alongside billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund.
The vice presidential nomination was a bullish sign for Silicon Valley donors who hope that a reelection of Trump would lead to tech-friendly policies, such as loosening regulations on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.
Vance also supports antitrust crackdowns on dominant big tech companies like Google that are accused of stifling smaller rivals — a position popular with so-called “little tech” startups backed by technology venture capital firms.
He also criticized Section 230, a law that gives tech platforms immunity from liability for third-party content posted on their sites.
“[Vance] “He may be the personification of protecting small tech,” said one technology policy source who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity. “He's a champion of AI and innovation, and he's tough on China.”
The conservative lawmaker has publicly called for breaking up Google and is one of dozens of lawmakers supporting the Child Online Safety Act, which would establish a legal duty of care for platforms like Meta and TikTok to protect children online.
He is one of the so-called “Khanservatives,” or Republican lawmakers, who have voiced support for Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, a Democrat who has angered some in the Republican establishment with a series of aggressive antitrust actions.
“I view Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration who is doing a pretty good job,” Vance said at an antitrust conference hosted by Y Combinator in February.
Vance's positions are consistent with those of President Trump, whose FTC and Justice Department launched antitrust investigations into Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple during his first term in office.
“President Trump and Vice President Vance will be the first crypto-focused administration and will bring together the best and brightest minds in technology, AI, quantum computing, crypto, defense, transportation and biotech to create a renaissance of American dynamism and innovation,” Shervin Pishevar, tech investor and managing director at Sharp Capital, told The Post.
One prominent supporter was Elon Musk, who praised Vance as a “great choice” and said the shortlist “rings off a victory.”
Musk formally endorsed Trump after the Republican candidate narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the billionaire Tesla CEO also said he will donate about $45 million to Trump's new political action committee, called America PAC, which also has the backing of the Winklevoss twins and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
Meanwhile, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who co-founded a technology-focused venture capital fund, told employees they planned to make a large donation to an unspecified political action committee to support Trump's candidacy, The Information reported.
Founders Fund partner Delian Asparoukhov also congratulated the choice, writing emphatically to X: “Ex-tech VC in the White House. Greatest country on earth, baby.”
Added Omeed Malik, president of 1789 Capital: “He has credibility in the MAGA ecosystem based on his experience and can be a bridge builder for the demographic our country needs.”
Other prominent tech venture capitalists who have backed Trump include “All In” podcast host David Sachs and Chamath Palihapitiya, who recently hosted a $12 million fundraiser backed by Vance.
Sachs described Vance as an “American patriot.”
Vance, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, graduated from Yale Law School in 2013 and worked as a principal at Thiel's investment firm, Mithril Capital, from 2016 to 2017.
By 2020, Mr. Vance had launched his own fund, Ohio-based Naria Capital, and had received significant backing from Silicon Valley luminaries including Mr. Thiel, Mr. Andreessen and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
“He's a Thiel buddy,” one venture capital source said. “He gave him the business, the job and the money. It's an advantage that Trump picked someone smart. I think it's hard to be a big supporter of both tech and the Rust Belt. I'm not sure there's a way to juggle both… We'll see how it goes.”
A spokesman for Thiel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2021, Vance's company, Naria, reportedly made a “significant” investment in Rumble, an online video platform popular with conservatives and a YouTube competitor.
Thiel also invested as a personal investor.
Nariya's portfolio also includes shares in Strive Asset Management, a fund founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and Trump supporter, which pressures large companies such as Apple and Disney to keep politics out of their business.
In 2022, Vance revealed he owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, President Biden is receiving a new cash infusion from George Soros, who has donated $5 million to the pro-Biden Future Forward PAC, and Schmidt, who recently made a six-figure donation to Biden's campaign and the Democratic Party, Bloomberg reported.
