While Elon Musk spent election night alongside Donald Trump celebrating his decisive victory at Mar-a-Lago, Silicon Valley figures who were involved, literally, in the outcome of Tuesday night’s election shared the CEO’s joy. Tesla. Some also claimed political victories for their political causes in San Francisco.
Venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen, Joe Lonsdale, and executives at Peter Thiel’s venture fund celebrated Trump’s victory, which they predicted would usher in a new anti-woke, low-regulation regime that would be a boon for the tech industry.
David Sacks, an emerging investor and podcast host, was present at Mar-a-Lago. Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril and Oculus, celebrated by tweeting a screenshot from the Pokémon animated TV show.
For some of them, the victory was personal: Among those with Trump’s support are his contemporaries, contacts, friends and others whom they describe as “some of the most effective people on the planet.”
I still think people have underestimated how different this second Trump term will be.
The first time took him and the country completely by surprise.
So not much of a team was formed.
This time?
Surrounded by some of the most effective people on the planet…
— delian (@zebulgar) November 6, 2024
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I still think people have underestimated how different this second Trump term will be.
The first time took him and the country completely by surprise.
So not much of a team was formed.
This time?
Surrounded by some of the most effective people on the planet…
— delian (@zebulgar) November 6, 2024
It was a sentiment previously echoed by Lonsdale, who launched the US political action committee alongside Musk, in an interview with tech news site Information. The government could possibly be run “by all my smartest tech friends,” he said. In addition to Lonsdale’s close relationship with Musk, the Palantir co-founder counts Silicon Valley darling and VP-elect JD Vance among his old friends.
Many of these men, including Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and Palantir, and Sacks, former COO of PayPal and CEO of Zenefits, have been “investing together” for years, he said Rob Lalkaprofessor at the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University. This pooling of their time and resources to support Trump is just the latest of their joint initiatives, he added.
“With the candidacy of Donald Trump, they have gained immense influence to promote libertarian ideals and move the Republican Party away from traditional conservatism, which has been decades in the making,” Lalka said.
Sacks posted a lengthy tweet on X about “why trump won”Wednesday afternoon, explaining and boasting about the strength of Trump’s “substantive campaign” and the failure of Kamala Harris’ “surrogate campaign.” Musk called it an “accurate assessment” of the political landscape.
Proud to be host @JDVance & @GregAbbott_TX at our home in Texas and bring together some of Austin’s best entrepreneurs and leaders.
I’ve known JD for years; He is competent and cares deeply about helping everyday people.
We support Trump/Vance for a better future. pic.twitter.com/E0XBvgy1Wt
—Joe Lonsdale (@JTLonsdale) September 23, 2024
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Proud to be host @JDVance & @GregAbbott_TX at our home in Texas and bring together some of Austin’s best entrepreneurs and leaders.
I’ve known JD for years; He is competent and cares deeply about helping everyday people.
We support Trump/Vance for a better future. pic.twitter.com/E0XBvgy1Wt
—Joe Lonsdale (@JTLonsdale) September 23, 2024
Musk’s loyalty to Trump is expected to be rewarded. Trump plans to hire Tesla’s billionaire CEO to head a government efficiency commission that he said he will create once he takes office. Musk has said he will cut government spending and jobs as “cost-cutting secretary.”
“Assuming things go well in this election, we will do a thorough review of all government agencies,” Musk said in a virtual X space he hosted when polls closed on Tuesday. One of Musk’s suggestions was that the government should “transition” some government workers to private sector jobs “where they can make parts and services that are more useful.” He also suggested that they would be given two years’ salary to find another job.
It’s time to build. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/PEAxKC17oh
—Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 (@pmarca) November 6, 2024
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Some prominent technology investors also celebrated what they predicted would be the end of Lina Khan’s tenure as chair of the Federal Trade Commission, during which she launched antitrust investigations and cases against Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple. Musk tweeted that Khan would be fired. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Trump planned to soften the government’s approach to Big Tech antitrust cases, particularly Google.
The next wave of deregulation will create a sonic economic boom.
— Naval (@naval) November 6, 2024
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The next wave of deregulation will create a sonic economic boom.
— Naval (@naval) November 6, 2024
But some tech industry executives are not as convinced that Trump’s presidency is the gift to the industry that some believe it is. In an interview with Newcomer NewsletterParker Conrad, CEO of payroll software Rippling, said people are mistakenly convinced that the Trump administration will align with their personal agendas.
“My personal opinion is that a lot of smart people are being very stupid and think Trump is going to do his thing,” Conrad told Eric Newcomer. “Tech people believe it will usher in a new, technological, business-friendly environment. The wacky fluoride conspiracy theorists think he’ll take care of that thing, etc.
Leaders come and go, but don’t change the rules of the game.
Censorship is changing the rules of the game.
Lawfare is changing the rules of the game.
Importing voters is changing the rules of the game.
It’s time to change the people who are changing the rules of the game.
— Naval (@naval) November 5, 2024
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Leaders come and go, but don’t change the rules of the game.
Censorship is changing the rules of the game.
Lawfare is changing the rules of the game.
Importing voters is changing the rules of the game.
It’s time to change the people who are changing the rules of the game.
— Naval (@naval) November 5, 2024
In addition to the national race, several of these actors had their eyes on local races closer to Silicon Valley, where they have spent millions to shape local politics and unseat more progressive incumbents.
In recent months, wealthy Silicon Valley executives had endorsed different moderate candidates for San Francisco’s mayor and moderate candidates for the board of supervisors.
While votes were still being counted in that race, at least one group, GrowSF, was celebrating what looked like a “promising” result for the mayoral candidate that organization had put forward. endorsed: Daniel Lurie, heir to the Levi Strauss fortune.
GrowSF, a dark money group founded by Apple, Google and Amazon alumni Sachin Agarwal and Steven Buss, says it backs “common sense” candidates contrary to what the group’s board member and president and YCombinator CEO Garry Tan. called “jobs of progressive madmen.”
On Tuesday, Tan reposted a victorious message from Lurie and tweeted his own:
“It’s a great result for San Francisco. A near clean sweep of moderate Democrats. Congratulations to Marjan Philhour, Danny Sauter, Bilal Mahmood and Michael Lai for retaking the Board of Supervisors. Amazing work by @GrowSF @TSFAction @ConnectedSF @PirateWires @StopCrimeSFnews,” Tan wrote.
It’s Election Day Everywhere and It’s Important in SF
I support Farrell and Breed for mayor and recommend that they use the @GrowSF guide for voters. Lurie Rank #3, Yes on D
We will take back the board of supervisors, defund corrupt nonprofits, and build prosperity for all of SF 🚀 pic.twitter.com/kbKMBLr81I
– Garry Tan (@garrytan) November 5, 2024
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It’s Election Day Everywhere and It’s Important in SF
I support Farrell and Breed for mayor and recommend that they use the @GrowSF guide for voters. Lurie Rank #3, Yes on D
We will take back the board of supervisors, defund corrupt nonprofits, and build prosperity for all of SF 🚀 pic.twitter.com/kbKMBLr81I
– Garry Tan (@garrytan) November 5, 2024
Other organizations run and funded by wealthy tech figures were less successful Tuesday. Together SF, another organizing group, had supported mayoral candidate Mark Farrell. Proposition D, a ballot proposal pushed by the group (and others, including GrowSF) that would have halved the number of commissions San Francisco has and given more authority to the mayor, seemed headed for defeat. Total contributions to push the ballot measure, the most expensive in San Francisco history, were just under 9.4 million dollars.
Read more of The Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage