Last week, former President Donald Trump attended a fundraiser at the home of San Francisco tech entrepreneur David Sacks that reportedly raised $12 million.
This Thursday, the convicted felon and presumptive GOP candidate for the presidency will address the Business Roundtable, an august group of more than 200 CEOs from America’s best known companies.
It’s quite a turnaround from 2021, when Trump left office after leading an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and watching his supporters riot at the U.S. Capitol. Then, much of corporate America criticized Trump over his actions in cheering on his supporters.
But just like the majority of elected congressional Republicans and his 2024 primary opponents – notably runner-up and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – leading business figures have decided that Trump is the better choice to occupy the White House in 2025.
The fundraiser at the home of Sacks, one of the leading executives during the early years of PayPal and a serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur, illustrates the change in fortunes for Trump among a group of tech and other industry leaders.
Sacks supported Utah Sen. Mitt Romney in his failed run for president as the Republican Party nominee in 2012 and then former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. He moderated the glitchy 2023 announcement on Twitter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s unsuccessful 2024 White House campaign. DeSantis was critical of Trump during his aborted run, but made amends recently.
Posting to X on Thursday, Sacks disparaged President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, global affairs, and the various prosecutions of Trump that he claimed Biden is behind.
“The voters have experienced four years of President Trump and four years of President Biden,” Sacks wrote. “In tech, we call this an A/B test. With respect to economic policy, foreign policy, border policy, and legal fairness, Trump performed better. He is the president who deserves a second term.”
Other Silicon Valley notables such as Sequoia Capital partners Doug Leone and Shaun Maguire have also said they will support Trump this time around after being critical of him for what happened on Jan.
