Conservative Silicon Valley Billionaires Turning Away from Trump... "Unpredictable"

Conservative Silicon Valley Figures Including Peter Thiel
Withdraw Support for Trump One After Another

With the U.S. presidential election just one year away, conservative tech billionaires in Silicon Valley are reportedly searching for a candidate to support instead of former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Disappointed by the Republican Party's lack of focus on a pro-business agenda and Trump's unpredictable actions, these tech billionaires are turning their backs.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 12th (local time), The Washington Post (WP), citing multiple sources, reported that billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of payment service company PayPal, told acquaintances that he feels alienated by the Republican Party and is looking for a candidate who will present a pro-business agenda ahead of the Republican primary election in two months.

Silicon Valley has traditionally been a region with strong progressive tendencies. Thiel, as a founder, is a representative figure who publicly revealed his conservative leanings in such a Silicon Valley and supported former President Trump. During the 2016 presidential election, he was one of Trump's biggest backers, personally campaigning and publicly disclosing that he is a Republican and gay. Until last year, he even stepped down from the board of Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, to support Republican candidates who would back Trump's agenda in the U.S. midterm elections.

However, Thiel changed his stance this year. In an interview with The Atlantic released on the 9th, he revealed that Trump asked him for $10 million in support earlier this year, but he refused. He recalled that the Trump administration was "more dangerous" and "crazier" than he had expected. Close acquaintances told WP that Thiel sees no candidate who represents his views and plans to completely stay out of the 2024 presidential election.

According to the report, not only Thiel but also conservative tech billionaires such as Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, his wife Susan McNealy, venture capitalist Doug Leone, and Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, have withdrawn their support for former President Trump one after another. Leone declared his withdrawal of support following the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021, and Ellison reportedly cut ties with Trump after a phone call regarding election strategy.

The main reason conservative tech billionaires have taken this stance is their deep disappointment that the Republican Party is focusing on divisive social issues such as transgender rights rather than corporate and economic issues including deregulation. Additionally, the belief that Trump would ease government regulations on businesses has collapsed, leaving conservative tech billionaires unable to find a candidate to support, sources say.

A political advisor to right-wing billionaires in Silicon Valley said, "There is a big difference in views between the candidates at the convention, primary voters, and the major figures who can use super PACs (special political action committees) for unlimited fundraising," adding, "We are not interested in issues like transgender kids using bathrooms. We care about deregulation."

Above all, growing dissatisfaction with Trump's behavior seems to have had an impact. Case Lavoyaz, managing partner of Founders Fund, a venture firm owned by Thiel, said, "The problem is that Trump is too reckless, and his personal character is hindering policy changes," adding, "He will cause confusion and chaos, and this situation will obstruct his agenda."

Tech billionaires once considered supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was seen as a rival to Trump, but reportedly abandoned this idea earlier this year. They appear disappointed that DeSantis has focused excessively on "woke" issues and has failed to present alternative issues despite declining approval ratings.

WP reported, "People feel alienated from politics because they believe politics has done nothing to support the tech industry," citing acquaintances of tech billionaires, and added, "This feeling of alienation has only intensified during the Trump and Joe Biden eras."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.