Sequoia faces backlash over partner's racist remarks against Zohran Mamdani
What's the story
Almost 600 people, including tech founders, have signed an open letter to the leaders of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The letter comes after one of the firm's partners, Shaun Maguire, made controversial comments against Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City. The group has called Maguire's remarks a "deliberate, inflammatory attack."
Remarks backlash
Maguire's post on X
Maguire, a known supporter of President Donald Trump, had taken to X over the weekend to make remarks about Mamdani. He said that Mamdani "comes from a culture that lies about everything" and is out to push "his Islamist agenda." The post has since garnered over five million views. Maguire has also invested in companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and X as well as AI start-up Safe Superintelligence.
Accountability call
Letter demands public response by July 14
The signatories of the letter, including tech founders, have demanded Sequoia Capital to condemn Maguire's remarks and apologize to Mamdani and Muslim founders. They also want an independent investigation into Maguire's behavior over the last two years, along with a "zero-tolerance policy on hate speech and religious bigotry." The group has given Sequoia until July 14 for a public response, failing which they will seek broader public disclosure and media outreach.
Response
Maguire's response to letter
The letter has been signed by several high-profile tech leaders including Mudassir Sheikha, CEO of ride-hailing service Careem; Amr Awadallah, CEO of AI start-up Vectara; Abubakar Abid from machine learning company Hugging Face; and Ahmed Sabbah, CEO of financial technology start-up Telda. In response to the letter, Maguire said on X that attempts to silence him would only embolden him further.
Political background
Sequoia Capital's political affiliations
Sequoia Capital has a long history of political affiliations. Doug Leone, the firm's former head and current partner, is a known Republican donor who backed Trump in the 2024 election. However, his predecessor Mike Moritz was a Democratic megadonor who criticized Trump and his tech supporters. Roelof Botha, Sequoia's current lead partner, has maintained neutrality on political matters within the firm.