Silicon Valley venture capitalist Shaun Maguire – Business News
A distinguished Silicon Valley venture capitalist doubled down Tuesday within the face of growing backlash for saying Muslim-born Zohran Mamdani, the socialist Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City, is pursuing “his Islamist agenda.”
Shaun Maguire, a accomplice at venture capital giant Sequoia Capital and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, referred to as out Mamdani — who was born in Uganda to Indian dad and mom — for itemizing that he was each “Asian” and “Black/African American” when making use of to Columbia University in 2009.
Mamdani “comes from a culture that lies about everything” and is pursuing “his Islamist agenda,” Maguire posted on X final Friday.
The post, which has 5.4 million views as of Tuesday, drew sharp condemnation from the left-leaning tech world, together with CEOs who had been backed by Sequoia.
Shaun Maguire is a accomplice at venture capital giant Sequoia Capital and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. AFP by way of Getty Images
Nearly 900 people have signed an open letter addressed to leaders at Sequoia, slamming Maguire for his “deliberate, inflammatory attack.”
The signatories are demanding that the firm publicly condemn Maguire’s remarks, problem an apology to Mamdani and Muslim founders and authorize an impartial investigation into Maguire’s conduct over the previous two years.
On Tuesday, Maguire remained defiant.
“You can try everything you want to silence me, but it will just embolden me,” the previous Google government posted on X.
In one other post, Maguire declared: “Let’s unpack what’s actually happening here. There are groups that hate me: Marxists, because I’m pro Capitalism; The Pro-Palestine crowd, because I’m Pro-Israel; Leftists, because I’m Pro-Trump. All of these groups want me cancelled because I’m a loud and effective voice.”
He added: “To the Haters and Losers, You cannot imagine how much Love and Support I’ve received over the last 48 hours. We have cancelled cancel culture. Your Hate and Ignorance only fuels me.”
The open letter to Sequoia calls for the firm publish a “zero-tolerance policy on hate speech and religious bigotry.”
Among the signatories are a number of distinguished figures within the tech sector, together with Mudassir Sheikha, CEO of ride-hailing platform Careem; Amr Awadallah, CEO of AI startup Vectara; Abubakar Abid, a machine studying engineer at Hugging Face, a company backed by Sequoia; and Ahmed Sabbah, CEO of the fintech company Telda, which acquired investment from Sequoia in 2020.
At least three founders from Y Combinator’s accelerator program have additionally signed the letter.
The group expects a response from Sequoia by July 14. If it fails to reply by that deadline, the signers say they may “proceed with broader public disclosure, media outreach and mobilizing our networks to ensure accountability.”
The Post has sought remark from Sequoia Capital, Maguire and Mamdani.
Maguire has denied that he was concentrating on Mamdani as a result of he’s Muslim, writing on X: “People have lost the plot.”
Maguire famous that Mamdani is “a man who started” a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and “defended Anwar al-Alawki” — an American-born Islamic cleric of Yemeni descent who was the primary US citizen to be focused and killed by a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
Maguire sparked outrage over the weekend after posting on X that Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, “comes from a culture that lies about everything” and is pursuing “his Islamist agenda.” AP
Mamdani has additionally refused to sentence the anitsemitic phrase “globalize the intifada.” His socialist agenda contains a pledge to freeze rent at regulated items, free buses and city-run groceries.
Maguire, whose portfolio contains investments in Elon Musk’s SpaceX and X, in addition to the artificial intelligence startup Safe Superintelligence, has often voiced his political beliefs. In a post on X final 12 months, he mentioned, “Just donated $300k to President Trump.”
Prominent figures in Silicon Valley signed an open letter denouncing the X post by Maguire. @shaunmmaguire/X
The controversy provides to a broader political divide at Sequoia.
Doug Leone, who led the firm till 2022 and stays a accomplice, is a longtime Republican donor and supported Trump within the 2024 election.
Following Trump’s victory, Leone posted on X, “To all Trump voters: you no longer have to hide in the shadows…..you’re the majority!!”
Sequoia Capital is thought for being one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capital corporations, backing and nurturing tech corporations reminiscent of Apple, Google, Airbnb and WhatsApp.
Leone’s predecessor, Mike Moritz, has taken the alternative stance. A Democratic megadonor, Moritz criticized Trump in an August opinion piece for the Financial Times, calling out tech leaders who supported the president.
“I doubt whether any of them would want him as part of an investment syndicate that they organised,” Moritz wrote.
“Why then do they dismiss his recent criminal conviction as nothing more than a politically inspired witch-hunt over a simple book-keeping error?”
The Post has sought remark from Leone and Moritz.
Roelof Botha, who at the moment leads Sequoia, has sought to stay politically impartial. Speaking at an occasion final July, Botha mentioned the firm “doesn’t take a political point of view,” and added, “I’m not a registered member of either party.”
He additionally mentioned he was “proud of the fact that we’ve enabled many of our partners to express their respected individual views along the way, and given them that freedom.”
