Inside the Gay Tech Mafia

"No one can say exactly when, or if, gay men started running Silicon Valley. They seem to have dominated its upper ranks at least the past five years, maybe more. On platforms like X, the clues are there: whispers of private-island retreats, tech executives going "gay for clout," and the suggestion that a "seed round" is not, strictly speaking, a financial term. It is an idea so taken for granted, in fact,"

"It had been the case, the hedge funder says, back in 2012, when he was raising money from a venture capitalist whose office was staffed with dozens of "attractive, strong young men," all of whom were "under 30" and looked as though they had freshly decamped from "the high school debate club." "They were all sleeping with each other and starting companies," he says."

"And it is absolutely the case now, he adds, when gay men are running influential companies in Silicon Valley and maintain entire social calendars with scarcely a straight man, much less a woman, in sight. "Of course the gay tech mafia exists," he continues. "This is not some Illuminati conspiracy theory. And you do not have to be gay to join. They like straight guys who sleep with them even more.""

Rumors, social clues, and online chatter suggest gay men have come to dominate Silicon Valley's senior ranks over the past several years. Platforms like X circulate whispers of private-island retreats, executives "going gay for clout," and sexualized interpretations of funding rituals. A hedge fund manager recalls 2012 venture-capital offices staffed with "attractive, strong young men" who were "under 30" and "sleeping with each other and starting companies." The same source says gay men now run influential firms and keep social calendars with few straight men or women. Prominent openly gay executives are visible among the industry's leadership.

Read at WIRED