Several big names in the venture capital industry are being called in to help Donald Trump’s teams during their transition. A dynamic that raises questions, even more so when we take into account the list of companies they support…
Elon Musk calls on his acolytes
During the presidential campaign, many well-known figures in the investment field showed their support for Donald Trump. This marked a real turning point, with Silicon Valley historically siding with the Democrats. This turnaround is explained, in large part, by the close relations maintained by the Republican candidate and Elon Musk, who obtained a ministerial post in his future administration.
The role of his department, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will be to reduce the federal government’s budget as much as possible, even if it means laying off thousands of civil servants in the process. And the richest man in the world obviously called on his acolytes to help him in this task.
This is particularly the case of Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the powerful venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The man, who is among SpaceX’s largest investorsis now a member of the advisory panel set up by Musk to prepare for his mission in government. Just like Antonio Gracias, co-founder of the company Valor Equity Partners. This former Tesla board member repeatedly injected funds into the businessman’s companies.
Prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Joe Lonsdale is also alongside Musk. Co-founder of Palantir, he regularly invests in cutting-edge technologies through his venture capital firm 8VC.
Possible conflicts of interest
Donald Trump should establish a cryptocurrency advisory council. As a reminder, the president-elect aims to create a strategic reserve of Bitcoins. Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase and Paradigm, a crypto investment company, should sit there, like Marc Andreessen.
Given their activities, and the elements on which they could influence, it is likely that the appointment of these men would give rise to conflicts of interest. Joe Lonsdale, for example, invested in Anduril, a company that aims to sell autonomous systems to the US Department of Defense.
It remains to be seen whether the government is really concerned about such a situation. The arrival of Elon Musk within the Trump administration already raises many questions, because most of his six companies could benefit greatly…
- Several renowned investors from Silicon Valley are at Elon Musk’s bedside in his new mission to the American government.
- Others should advise Donald Trump on the strategy to adopt regarding cryptocurrencies.
- The situation is almost unprecedented, Silicon Valley having historically positioned itself on the side of the Democrats.
