The endorsement from David O. Sacks is a reversal of his previous comments on the former president.
A top Silicon Valley venture capitalist revealed he’s endorsing former President Donald Trump and hosted a San Francisco fundraiser for the candidate, drawing a response from the presidential hopeful on Friday.
David O. Sacks, the cofounder of Craft Ventures, wrote that he hosted the fundraising event in San Francisco for the former president because he’s concerned about elevated inflation, U.S. foreign policy around the war in Ukraine, U.S. border security, and more.
“But today I am giving my endorsement to our 45th President, Donald J. Trump, to be our 47th President. My reasons rest on four main issues that I think are vital to American prosperity, security, and stability—issues where … I believe President Trump can lead us back,” he said in a lengthy post on X.
“Growth has already slowed from 3.4 percent in the last quarter of 2023 to an anemic 1.3 percent in the first quarter of this year. We can’t afford another four years,” Mr. Sacks said.
His comment on social media is a reversal of what he said in 2021 when he said that former President Trump “disqualified himself” after the breach at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He also previously backed presidential bids by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before switching to former President Trump.
In an interview with Fox News, the former president touted the endorsement, adding that Mr. Sacks’s backing is a “strong” endorsement of “what I’ve accomplished.”
Former President Trump said “these are brilliant guys—AI guys—these are the guys that are doing all the things you read about,” adding that Mr. Sacks is “the king of that world” and understands “what’s happening into the future with technology better than any group, anywhere in the world.”
“One of the primary reasons for the endorsement was the four years that we had in office, which was the best four years ever for high tech, which will play an increasingly important role in the future of our country,” he said. “It is a very exciting time and it is a great honor to have the most brilliant minds supporting, by far, the most brilliant leader.”
Elaborating, he said that some tech entrepreneurs “liked the job I did” when he was president. “But for four years, they did better than they’ve ever done—they had less regulation, and they are a group that cannot stand regulation because it hinders their path to growth,” he said.
The endorsement was issued more than a week after Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO and cofounder of real estate giant Blackstone, said that he will support and raise money for former President Trump in what he called a “vote for change.”
Mr. Schwarzman in late May noted what he called a “dramatic rise of anti-Semitism” in the United States that has led him to “focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency.”
“I share the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration, and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction. For these reasons, I am planning to vote for change and support Donald Trump for President. In addition, I will be supporting Republican Senate candidates and other Republicans up and down the ticket,” he said in a statement to several news outlets.
Other top donors who have said they would back former President Trump include professional wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump donor who headed the Small Business Administration during the Trump administration, as well as Nevada budget hotel tycoon Robert Bigelow, former Marvel Entertainment Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, Mellon banking family heir Timothy Mellon, hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, hotel magnate Steve Wynn, hedge fund manager John Paulson, and more.