Why JD Vance as Donald Trump's VP pick has Silicon Valley celebrating

By Lizette Chapman and Anna Edgerton

Major Silicon Valley investors hailed Donald Trump’s choice of Ohio senator and former venture capitalist JD Vance as his running mate, a move that puts the technology industry closer to center stage in Washington if the former president takes the White House in November.
 

Elon Musk called the decision a “great choice” and said the lineup “resounds with victory” on X, the social platform he owns. David Sacks, an investor and Trump supporter scheduled to speak at the GOP convention on Monday night, called Vance an “American patriot” in a post.

And at Founders Fund, a venture capital firm backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, partner Delian Asparouhov summed up the mood of many in his orbit, posting: “IT’S JD VANCE. WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH BABY.”

 

The Silicon Valley tech industry has long been a liberal bastion nestled in California, a Democratic stronghold, with roots in deeply progressive San Francisco. But a Republican contingent within tech has recently become increasingly visible, with major players like Musk, Sacks and Shaun Maguire from Sequoia Capital throwing their endorsements and donations to Trump for his White House bid against President Joe Biden. 

Representatives for Thiel and Founders Fund didn’t provide comment on the announcement.

After graduating from Yale Law School, Vance in 2016 became a principal at Mithril Capital Management, a venture firm backed by Thiel, where he served a relatively brief stint. In 2017, he joined the Steve Case-backed firm Revolution LLC in Washington, as a partner focusing on startups. In 2019, he moved back to Ohio and formed Narya Capital. Taking a page from Thiel’s book, Vance made a Lord of the Rings reference with his new firm, naming Narya after a ring worn by the wizard Gandalf in the books. Narya was backed by Thiel, alongside other big-name investors including Eric Schmidt and Marc Andreessen.

Vance’s proximity to the tech industry has thrilled even former Democrats in tech. One supporter is Chamath Palihapitiya, a former donor to Hillary Clinton who appears alongside Sacks on the tech podcast All In, where the hosts refer to each other as besties. After Trump’s announcement about Vance, he tweeted, “A Bestie adjacent as the VP?!?!?! ????????????????”

Crystal McKellar, founder and managing partner of Aloft VC, worked with Vance at Mithril Capital in 2012 and greeted the news enthusiastically. 

“He will be good for Silicon Valley because he is a good free market capitalist who believes in growth and innovation and eliminating the regulation that strangles growth,” she said in a text. “And he’ll be good for the country for all the same reasons and because he feels genuine compassion for those forgotten and left behind by progress.”

Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, said that while he didn’t know Vance, 39, or his positions well, his pick was an encouraging sign. “I think having somebody who understands tech is great,” Murphy said. “We actually have a young candidate who seems to be tech savvy. I think it’s good for the party.”

Vance has had a somewhat complicated relationship with Silicon Valley. During his successful campaign for the Senate in 2022, which was backed by Thiel, he was critical of big tech companies, saying that they wield too much power and influence over politics. He argued that his background has positioned him to take on the “big tech oligarchy.”

Vance has also cheered the Biden administration’s tech-focused antitrust enforcement, especially Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. This sets Vance apart from Chamber of Commerce-type Republicans who have consistently criticised Khan’s broad interpretation of existing antitrust law to prosecute tech companies that don’t fit the profile of historic monopolies.

“I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is actually doing a pretty good job,” Vance said at a conference in February.

But while Vance’s criticism of large tech players may rankle some in the industry, it’s similar to sentiments expressed by smaller ones. Startups and venture capitalists have long complained that the size and power of big tech players had made it difficult for small companies to compete. VC firm Andreessen Horowitz has nicknamed the startup world “Little Tech,” and pointed out the difference in priorities between small companies and bigger firms. 

Vance has also taken on Wall Street in other ways, backing legislation with Elizabeth Warren to claw back pay for bank executives when their institutions fail, and railroad companies with his Trump-endorsed safety bill with Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown after the East Palestine disaster.

He also bucked his party in leading support for the extension of an expired Biden program providing subsidies for broadband access for millions of people. Those bipartisan efforts had earned him plaudits from Democrats but didn’t succeed in getting bills enacted into law.