They endorsed him on their podcasts and in their Substacks. They talked him up on conference stages and in cable TV hits. They donated hundreds of millions of dollars to his campaign. One even made his $44 billion social network the ultimate platform for supporters.
Now the tech industry conservatives who helped get Donald Trump elected are ready for their reward.
No, not friendlier leadership at the Federal Trade Commission and Securities Exchange Commission — although they expect that, too. We’re talking about the gloating.
In the hours since it became clear that Trump would not only win the presidency but do so by a comfortable margin, Elon Musk, David Sacks, Marc Andreessen, and other prominent Silicon Valley Republicans have been putting on a veritable sideshow of virtual victory laps.
Musk, who quickly became Trump’s most important benefactor after publicly endorsing him in July, posted an image of himself photoshopped into the White House with a sink and the caption “let that sink in” –– a reference to his pun-inspired arrival at Twitter HQ two years ago when he took over the company.
Let that sink in pic.twitter.com/XvYFtDrhRm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2024
Musk, who has contributed at least $199 million to his pro-Trump America PAC, put out another image Wednesday morning — a picture of himself saluting the American flag. “It is morning in America again,” Musk wrote, evoking former President Ronald Reagan’s catchphrase.
Trump has said he intends to give Musk a role in his administration as a sort of czar of government efficiency and cost-cutting.
Andreessen, who over the summer said he thought Trump would be better than President Joe Biden for “little tech,” meaning startups and the crypto industry, also celebrated the moment with a callback to his own online oeuvre. “It’s time to build,” he posted, referencing his 2020 manifesto, “It’s Time to Build,” about how it’s time to build.
Sitting out the end zone dancing was Andreessen’s partner, Ben Horowitz, a longtime Democratic donor who surprised many of his Silicon Valley friends by joining Andreessen in endorsing Trump, only to more or less walk it back after Kamala Harris replaced Biden as the nominee.
No one in Big Tech has ridden the Trump Train with more gusto than David Sacks, who hosted a fundraiser for the former president at his Pacific Heights home in June. The investor and cohost of the “All-In” podcast tweeted throughout election night. “Stop denying the election and call it already,” he wrote, followed by “Nixon ‘68 was The Greatest Comeback — until tonight.” Chamath Palihapitiya, the investor who cohosted the fundraiser with Sacks, posted a series of photos with Trump, J.D. Vance, and other Republicans in his congratulatory message.
Other Trump stans in the tech world made sure to chime in. Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale called it “morning again in America.” Tech billionaire Palmer Luckey tweeted “GG,” an acronym for good game, to which Musk responded “Yup.” Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire saluted a meme of Trump on the phone saying “We did it Joe,” and declared the arrival of a renaissance.
Adding to the schadenfreude of the Trump faithful, tech investors and executives who opposed Trump or avoided taking sides during the campaign season began issuing their own congratulations Tuesday evening as the results became clear.
Mark Cuban, who backed Harris and frequently crossed rhetorical swords with Musk on X, congratulated Trump and Musk, adding “#Godspeed.” After Cuban followed Musk’s account, Autism Capital, an anonymous account that frequently posts pro-Trump and pro-crypto memes, spiked the football: “BREAKING: CAPITULATION.”
🚨BREAKING: CAPITULATION pic.twitter.com/RopUHs8G9e
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) November 6, 2024
On Wednesday, the reality of Trump 2.0 was just, um, sinking in, leaving many less-outspoken tech leaders with mixed feelings.
Siqi Chen, founder of the finance startup Runway, said that while many of the folks he looks up to in tech supported Trump, he couldn’t get behind him.
“I’m personally excited about Elon being more involved with government, and slimming down the government, and I think this is likely to be a great economic outcome for tech and the economy in general,” Chen said. “I am however very disappointed that the leader of the free world isn’t someone with more integrity, and I am worried about the increasing division that that will cause.”
Eric Bahn, cofounder and general partner at Hustle Fund, said the mood among local VCs is “quite binary — either you’re pleased with the result or you are quite disappointed.”
Regardless of politics, Bahn said VCs are generally feeling relief that the election is over.
“It is time to move on from this toxic period of campaigning and election news,” he said. “It was a distraction, and I think all of us are eager to move forward.”