Logo

NY Times

Why Trump’s Victory Has Silicon Valley Leaders Angry — at Themselves

Nov 10, 2016  •  Post A Comment

Donald Trump’s election night victory is having dire repercussions in Silicon Valley, where technology leaders — most of whom supported Hillary Clinton — were blaming themselves.

“Across the technology industry, the reaction to Donald J. Trump’s election to the presidency was beyond grim,” The New York Times reports in an analysis piece. “There was a sense that the industry had missed something fundamental about the fears and motivations of the people who use its products, and that the miscalculation would cost the industry, and the world, greatly.”

The report quotes Shervin Pishevar, a venture capitalist with the firm Sherpa Capital, saying: “We didn’t do enough. There were too many people in the tech industry who were complacent. They waited and waited and waited to get engaged in this election. And now we have this nightmare.”

The Times adds: “For some, buried in the visceral reaction was also a realization that the tech industry’s relationship with government — not to mention the public — looks bound to shift in a fundamental way.

“During the Obama years, Silicon Valley came to see itself as the economic and social engine of a new digital century. Smartphones and social networks became as important to world business as oil and the automobile, and Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft rose to become some of the most prosperous and valuable companies on the planet.”

But the cozy relationship between Obama and tech is unlikely to translate smoothly to a Trump presidency.

“The incoming president had few kind words for tech giants during the interminable campaign that led to his victory,” The Times notes. “Mr. Trump promised to initiate antitrust actions against Amazon, repeatedly vowed to force Apple to make its products in the United States, and then called for a boycott of the company when it challenged the government’s order to unlock a terrorist’s iPhone.”

We encourage readers to click on the link to The New York Times near the top of this story to read the full analysis.

3 Comments

  1. When your interest is only what is good for yourself and your company – basically the same thing – and not what is best for our nation, you act as these high tech billionaires do. They could not have been anywhere near as successful anywhere but the US, but that is of little importance to them. I love big business. I run the largest business in my industry, but we never move in a direction that is bad for this nation. These high tech companies do! Strangle they may find more benefit from a Trump administration than they think. Just as the stock market took an initial and very short lived dip (fearing that without a corrupt and friendly White House they might have to tow the mark) things turned around the next day and showed great gains. If reduced regulations as promised do show up, businesses will show a nice uptick – including these self absorbed whining titans of business!

  2. How much or our money are these egg heads getting?

  3. Because their products are good doesn’t mean that their ideals are good. This is what cost Hillary the election. The belief that certain people in the country know what is best for everyone and that the rest of the country should bow to their version of life. America is still a middle class and middle values country. When the country moves too far to the left or the right the “Silent Majority” come out. That is what happened in 1980 and again in 1992 and in 2008 and now in 2016. The Silent Majority keep the boat from rocking too much to either side.

Leave a Reply to Guilty Cleric Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)