U.S. Big Tech. executives are politically shifting back to the right.
A graph shared by X user @eyelasho noted a divided political split among tech executives in 2024, with most leaning heavily to the left or right. Such support for conservative ideas has not been seen among such a group since the turn of the century.
As the chart shows, in 2000 tech execs tended to donate mainly to moderate candidates, while by 2016 they were *heavily* favoring Democrats, which continued in 2020. However in 2024 a rift opened up, and a number of high profile figures in Silicon Valley have poured money into the Trump campaign.
According to the Financial Times, which is the source of the above chart:
Using data on millions of political donations made by tens of thousands of executives, board members and senior managers since 2001, Steel finds that the median US CEO is no longer solidly on the right. Instead, he or she is now a political moderate, while senior managers today are overwhelmingly left-leaning.
The share of companies with overwhelmingly left-leaning or right-leaning leadership teams is rising, leading to increased rates of disruption when political misfits leave or are pushed out.
The recent splintering of Silicon Valley into an increasingly outspoken conservative venture capital industry and a still left-leaning broader tech sector appears emblematic of this wider trend. Recent changes to Elon Musk’s social media platform X are a reminder that corporations embodying the values of their leadership will not always point in a progressive direction.
The article also had some interesting data on how CEOs and senior managers in general have been leaning politically in the U.S., indicating that CEOs are generally right-wing, and senior managers left-wing.
One social media immediately questioned how accurate the data may be.
However, these are hardly the first data points showing a shift in big tech.
A 2017 Vox article described tech entrepreneurs as “pretty liberal” with three-quarters (75.2%) confirming that they had voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. However, an article from 2022 suggested tech billionaires were shifting to the right, noting a more polarized political climate compared despite strong support for liberals. Interestingly, the article was written shortly after Elon Musk took over Twitter.
Elon’s vocal support for Trump has exacerbated support among big tech executives so far in 2024. The world’s richest man’s beliefs, particularly his commitment to free speech, has led to entrepreneurs becoming more aware of Kamala Harris’ approach to taxation and her largely anti-libertarian beliefs.
Without accurate data, it’s hard to truly measure the conservative shift among tech executives. For all we know, the movement could be far bigger than many believe.
