Donald Trump visited Silicon Valley Thursday evening and raised $12 million from tech executives, a notable foray into a longtime Democratic stronghold.
The event, co-hosted by billionaire investor David O. Sacks and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, capped a wave of new Trump forays with wealthy donors from the worlds of tech, crypto and Wall Street .
“The blue wall of technology has been broken” job Messari CEO Ryan Selkis after attending the event.
Selkis, who co-founded his cryptocurrency market information company, was among those who reportedly paid between $50,000 and $500,000 for tickets to attend the event at Sacks’ home.
“Electric event!” Selkis added a photo of himself with the former president.
Harmeet Dhillon, former vice chair of the California Republican Party, posted photos of the event and said the fundraiser met expectations by raising $12 million with the support of technology.
Indeed, the presence of crypto leaders – after 3 years of tense relations between Biden and the sector – was notable. THE The New York Times reported that Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were present and deserved Trump’s shouting.
Biden has his own supporters in Silicon Valley, with a recent stop in the Bay Area where the president raised money at an event co-hosted by Marissa Mayer, the former CEO of Yahoo.
Another stop, according to pool reports, took place at the home of Jon Shirley, the former chairman of Microsoft (MSFT).
“An A/B test”
The main organizer of this week’s event, Sacks, posted an essay On Thursday evening, he officially endorsed Trump and reiterated his reasons for supporting the former president, accusing Biden of economic failure and authorizing politicized lawsuits.
He said voters would be able to compare Trump and Biden’s terms side by side, adding: “In technology, we call it an A/B test.”
Sacks is a close political ally of Sen. JD Vance, an Ohio Republican, who once worked in Silicon Valley and has now become a crucial intermediary between the Trump campaign and these big donors.
Other billionaires who were not in attendance Thursday night but have been increasingly open to Trump republished Sacks’ essay in positive terms.
“Thoughtful,” said Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (TSLA).
Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square added that he agreed with “most but not all” of the reasons Sacks gave for supporting Trump.
Ben Werschkul is Yahoo Finance’s Washington correspondent.
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