"However, when it came to a question about whether Sequoia has previously seen its partners express their political positions as publicly as their views on business, Botha argued that Sequoia has always supported a diversity of views. Botha noted that, for example, Sequoia VC Michael Moritz had been outspoken in his opposition to President Trump, while former managing partner Doug Leone was a vocal Trump supporter."
"In a July 4 post on X, Maguire attacked New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, calling the politician an "Islamist" who "comes from a culture that lies about everything." His remarks led to a sizable online backlash and debate about the reputational risk to the VC firm that has backed companies like Airbnb, Google, Nvidia, and Stripe."
Sequoia Capital defended a partner's right to free speech after Shaun Maguire posted on July 4 calling mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani an "Islamist" and saying he "comes from a culture that lies about everything." The post produced a sizable online backlash and an open letter from over a thousand founders and tech professionals demanding action. A separate letter supported Maguire. Sequoia declined to discipline Maguire, prompting Financial Times reporting that COO Sumaiya Balbale, a practicing Muslim, resigned. Roelof Botha declined to comment on personnel matters onstage but said Sequoia supports diverse opinions and values "spiky" people, citing partners with opposing political views.
Read at TechCrunch
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