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In July 2024, Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz said they supported Donald Trump in that year’s presidential race because they believed his policies would be better for startups and U.S. technological leadership. They cited AI regulation, cryptocurrency policy and President Joe Biden’s proposed tax on unrealized capital gains. Those were the founders’ arguments and predictions—not established evidence that the policies would produce the outcomes they expected.
What was their main argument?
Andreessen and Horowitz argued that a strong technology sector is essential to the country’s economic and military strength, and that policy should leave young companies room to innovate. TechCrunch’s July 16, 2024 account quoted Andreessen: “Why is tech important? It’s because if you don’t have the tech part of that triangle, you’re not going to have the economy part, you’re not going to have the military part.”
They presented Trump as the better choice for what Horowitz called “Little Tech”—startups and smaller technology companies—rather than making a comprehensive comparison of the candidates’ records or platforms. The Guardian’s July 17 coverage also reported Horowitz saying he viewed Trump as the better choice for Little Tech.
Why did AI regulation matter to them?
The founders objected to what they characterized as excessive U.S. restrictions on artificial intelligence. Andreessen argued that limits imposed by the United States could leave the country at a disadvantage against other nations. TechCrunch quoted him: “Any limitations we put [on] ourselves are going to disadvantage the U.S. versus the rest of the World.”
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Horowitz also recounted a dinner conversation with Trump about AI. As Horowitz told it, Trump said: “What he said to us is, ‘[AI] is very scary, but we absolutely have to win because if we don’t win, China wins,’” The quotation is Horowitz’s account of Trump’s remarks, not a direct interview quotation from Trump.
What role did cryptocurrency policy play?
Andreessen characterized Trump’s approach to cryptocurrency as broadly welcoming and the Biden-era approach as hostile to a nascent industry. The Guardian likewise identified crypto regulation as one of the founders’ principal concerns. These descriptions reflect the founders’ political case; they are not a full, independent comparison of the administrations’ policies.
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Why did Andreessen call the unrealized-gains proposal a “final straw”?
Andreessen said Biden’s proposed tax on unrealized capital gains was decisive for him. His concern was that founders and venture firms can hold valuable stakes in private companies without having cash available from a sale. A tax bill on gains that exist on paper, he argued, could force founders or investors to part with equity or find cash even when their holdings remain illiquid.
TechCrunch quoted Andreessen warning: “If you’re a venture firm, you’re getting strips of your portfolio pulled away from you every year. You’re out of business,” He forecast that such a tax could make startups and venture capital impractical. That was his prediction about the proposal’s effects; the cited coverage does not establish that the proposal took effect or that the predicted consequences occurred.
What did they say about taking a political side?
Horowitz acknowledged that supporting Trump could anger friends and family. TechCrunch quoted him: “I wish we didn’t have to pick a side,” His comment conveyed the personal cost he anticipated, even as the founders argued that technology policy and the future of startups warranted their choice.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the endorsement establish—and what does it not?
The public explanation covered here concerns the 2024 presidential contest and the reasons Andreessen and Horowitz gave at the time. It does not establish their present-day political views or predict their position in a later election. Nor does it verify their forecasts about the consequences of AI, crypto or tax policy. Axios reported that both intended to donate to Trump’s election effort, attributing its account of their motivation to an unnamed source; the founders’ technology-centered rationale is also described in contemporaneous reporting by TechCrunch, The Guardian and Fortune.
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An earlier Andreessen Horowitz podcast episode, published April 5, 2024, discussed technology regulation, decentralized AI and American innovation. Its page includes Horowitz’s statement, “If America is going to be America in the next one hundred years, we have to get this right.” That episode provides background on the founders’ policy concerns, but it is separate from their July endorsement.
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