Some of Silicon Valley’s best-known venture capitalists will host a fundraiser for Donald Trump next month as Republicans gain a foothold in the predominantly Democratic technology donor community.
David Sacks and his tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya, co-hosts of the popular All In Podcast, are hosting a fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco on June 6, according to an invitation obtained by the Financial Times. Sacks has said he hopes to feature the presidential candidate on his show.
The event – which comes ahead of another fundraiser in Newport Beach, California, by Palmer Luckey, the founder of defense contractors Anduril and Oculus VR – is a sign that leaders in elite tech circles are growing increasingly critical of President Joe Biden, with some even considering switching their allegiance to Trump.
Tickets for the all-in fundraiser cost a minimum of $50,000 per person, but a $300,000 donation will get you additional VIP perks like “preferred seating” at dinner and a photo with the former president.
Jacob Helberg, a senior Palantir executive who donated hundreds of thousands to Biden’s 2020 campaign, recently announced a $1 million donation to Trump’s campaign, saying the former president’s border policies and his pro-Israel and anti-China stance were the reason he switched from the Democratic Party.
“When people like Palmer [Luckey]myself or David Sacks openly support Trump, we are not facing the same reactions and backlash that we would have experienced eight years ago,” Helberg said.
The shift marks a cultural shift within the valley – long considered a bastion of liberalism – driven by concerns about issues such as free speech, technology regulation and taxes.
Currently, pro-Trump technology leaders are trying to convince Elon Musk, the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX, to support the former president.
Musk previously supported Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but over the past year he has turned to X to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Trump’s civil fraud sentence, defending his inflammatory rhetoric and praising his sense of humor while accusing the media of being biased against Biden.
“The more unfair the attacks on Trump appear to the public, the higher he will rise in the polls,” Musk wrote to his 185 million followers on X last week.
The billionaire’s journey from Democrat supporter to libertarian provocateur has played out on the social media platform, as he increasingly rejects what he calls “woke politics” and the mainstream media while lambasting alleged conservative censorship and flirting with far-right conspiracies – arguments that often resemble those of Trump.
He also called the former president’s “hush money” trial “a corruption of the law” in a post that Trump copied and published on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
Musk has been equally outspoken about Biden’s immigration policies, his stance on transgender care and his intellectual acuity. “Biden clearly has little idea what’s going on. He’s just a tragic front for a far-left political machine,” he wrote on X last month.
Many in the billionaire’s inner circle view Trump as a victim and believe the Biden administration is overly hostile toward Musk – and fear their own interests may be at risk.
“If they are able to prevent unfair [Musk]they can unfairly target the rest of us next,” said a pro-Trump technology venture capitalist close to Musk. “That’s how the Third World works. That’s not how America should work.”
But Musk has not endorsed or donated to any of the candidates.
“The big question is whether Elon Musk will write a check or not?” said Charles Myers, a longtime Democratic donor and fundraiser.
Musk and Sacks did not respond to requests for comment, but Trevor Traina, former U.S. ambassador to Austria during the Trump administration, said: “I think we can admit that he has essentially already [endorsed Trump].”
There are still leading Silicon Valley figures supporting Biden, such as venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Palantir CEO Alex Karp, who donated more than $360,000 to the Biden campaign late last year.
“Joe has done a pretty good job and Trump is going to destroy democracy,” Khosla told the Financial Times. “The economy is so much better than the press and the perception make it out to be. So I think the problem was communication.”
But Biden’s proposal to nearly double capital gains tax rates for the richest Americans and his Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Lina Khan’s aggressive crackdown on corporate takeovers have frightened many in the tech industry.
“It is really difficult for investors in start-ups or founders of technology companies to take over a company because the current government’s antitrust policy is so restrictive,” says Helberg.
In April, Musk hosted an anti-Biden dinner in Hollywood with Sacks that included billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel on the guest list, according to a report that first appeared in Puck News. Thiel has no plans to endorse or donate money to any candidate, said a person familiar with his thinking.
Berin Szóka, president of the nonprofit think tank TechFreedom, says tech founders like Musk may be seeking “leverage” by siding with Trump in the dispute over online free speech regulation and content moderation.
“How is a Trump administration going to wage war in the service of its grievances and the culture war?” he asked. “There are some very significant donors who care about that.”
Others say there are business incentives for the billionaire and other technology leaders to support Trump rather than Biden, whom Musk previously accused of being a “naysayer” toward Tesla.
Myers said he believes Musk is “afraid” that Trump would eliminate subsidies for electric cars, which would directly hurt Tesla, and that he would repeal the Inflation Control Act. “That’s one of the reasons I’m convinced Elon is on the same wavelength as Trump.”
Traina, the former Trump ambassador, said big donors are watching the polls and placing bets on how they might position themselves for a future White House.
“We could talk about trends like people putting inflation and border security above issues like abortion, but I think the reality is that it’s becoming more and more obvious that Trump is going to win and people want to put themselves in a favorable position for the next four years,” he said.
Szóka agrees that Trump supporters are vying for voters’ favor and want to play it safe in what could be a very close race.
“This is all about palace intrigue and palace politics and who has the emperor’s ear,” he said.