Less than an hour after a gunman in Butler, Pa., attempted to assassinate Donald J. Trump this month, tensions rose in Silicon Valley as well. David Sacks, a venture capitalist based in San Francisco, expressed his frustration by pointing fingers at former colleagues. He wrote on X, accusing Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor and technology investor, of contributing to the incident by normalizing anti-Trump sentiments.
Elon Musk, known for leading SpaceX and Tesla, also chimed in on X, specifically calling out Mr. Hoffman. Musk suggested that individuals like Hoffman, who have been vocal critics of Trump, had indirectly fueled the violent act.
These public confrontations among tech billionaires have brought to light a new level of discord in Silicon Valley. Former allies who once collaborated closely and shared personal moments such as weddings are now engaging in heated arguments and personal attacks, both online and offline. The rift has the potential to reshape power dynamics within the tech industry.
Notably, the conflict has been most pronounced within the “PayPal Mafia,” a group of affluent tech executives that includes Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk, David Sacks, and investor Peter Thiel. These individuals, who originally worked together at PayPal in the 1990s, have since pursued their own ventures or become prominent figures in the investment world.
Other influential figures in the tech community, such as Vinod Khosla, Marc Andreessen, and Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz, have also been drawn into the political disputes, further intensifying the divide in Silicon Valley.
