Billionaire who endorsed Trump in July is now backing Harris with a 'significant donation'

05 Oct 2024, 11:57 by https://www.facebook.com/17108852506 · AlterNet

Vice President Kamala Harris in Glendale, Arizona on August 9, 2024 (Gage Skidmore)
Carl Gibson
October 05, 2024Election 2024

For the first time in his career, billionaire investor Ben Horowitz donated to a political campaign earlier this summer when he gave to former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. But now he's doing an abrupt one-eighty.

Axios recently reported that Horowitz — one of the two main partners in the firm Andreessen Horowitz — is now throwing his considerable financial resources behind Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign in the final weeks of the election cycle. This comes despite him endorsing Trump in July, when President Joe Biden was still at the top of the Democratic ticket. Horowitz praised Harris and said he and his wife "will be making a significant donation" to the vice president.

"Felicia and I have known Vice President Harris for over 10 years and she has been a great friend to both of us during that time," Horowitz said.

Just five days before Biden dropped out of the race, both Horowitz and his business partner, Marc Andreessen announced they would be supporting Trump, saying his platform was the best for "advancing technology." They specifically cited his positions in favor of cryptocurrency and regulation of artificial intelligence.

And even though Horowitz is now on Harris' side, he notably said he still felt Trump was the best candidate for the tech industry and that the Biden administration was "stifling innovation." However, Harris has carved out a different path than Biden on new technology, saying her administration would "encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our consumers and investors."

In an email to Andreessen Horowitz staff, Horowitz emphasized that his firm's position had not changed on its advocacy for what it calls the "Little Tech Agenda" and that he had not yet gotten clarity on whether a potential Harris administration would be in alignment with that goal.

"From a firm perspective, we continue to only take positions consistent with our Little Tech Agenda and how the various candidates that support or don't support policies to build a strong startup technology industry," Horowitz wrote in the email. "As we stated earlier, the Biden Administration has been exceptionally destructive on tech policy across the industry, but especially as it relates to Crypto/Blockchain and AI. So, while I am very hopeful that the Harris Administration will be much better, they have not yet stated their intentions."

Horowitz has not yet indicated how much he would be donating. While individuals can only make donations of up to $3,300 to a federal candidate in a given cycle, the largesse of wealthy donors typically goes to super PACs, which have no funding restrictions. According to a May 2024 estimate, Horowitz has more than $3.4 billion to his name.

Despite being just a few months old, Harris' campaign has been marked by unusually strong fundraising. In just a matter of weeks, the vice president raised more than $500 million, and has significantly out-raised her opponent in each monthly report since she entered the race in late July.

Click here to read Axios' full report.