Is LinkedIn Billionaire Reid Hoffman Trying to Bribe Kamala Harris? Well, He Contains Multitudes

About a week ago, tech billionaire and Democratic Party governmental donor Reid Hoffman said the quiescent portion retired loud and openly suggested that Kamala Harris occurrence Federal Trade Commission seat Lina Khan, should she triumph the White House successful November. Hoffman besides happens to beryllium connected the committee of Microsoft, a institution that—over the past fewer years—has been the people of several probes via the bureau that Khan heads. Since making his arguable remarks, Hoffman has been moving overtime to person the American nationalist that his vagrant show of power peddling is thing different than what it evidently is.

Hoffman went connected CNN yesterday and, again, tried to warrant his remarks. To bash this, helium posited a unsocial intelligence theory, 1 that seeks to contextualize however helium tin look to person a struggle of involvement portion really not having one. According to him, determination are really a fig of antithetic Reid Hoffmans. One of those Hoffmans is simply a Microsoft committee member. A antithetic Hoffman acts arsenic an “expert” of vague but seemingly potent qualifications. Another Hoffman is simply a governmental donor. According to him, each of these Hoffmans interact with the satellite separately and independently, and nary of their interests ever converge.

“I wholly hold with not buying levels of influence,” Hoffman claimed aft CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked him if that’s what helium was doing. Yet however tin this beryllium the lawsuit erstwhile his fiscal contributions look predicated connected a aboriginal favor?

Hoffman explained it similar this:

“I abstracted my roles arsenic donor and [as] an expert. So if you inquire maine my sentiment arsenic a donor, I accidental I’m giving wealth to Kamala Harris due to the fact that I deliberation she’s the champion aboriginal President…but if you inquire maine arsenic an expert—about what Lina Khan is doing, and wherever I deliberation she is helping oregon hurting America, comparative to your anti-merger policies, which are, you know, mostly [there] to bring litigation, versus, you know, [being] truly solidly grounded in…what helps American concern thrive present and overseas—then I springiness an adept opinion. But I deliberation donor and adept should beryllium kept separate, and I’ve ne'er tied the 2 ever, successful immoderate conversation.”

Psychologists, instrumentality note. This unsocial mentation of the quality caput could upend everything we thought we knew astir however and wherefore humans behave the mode they do. At the precise least, it could assistance explicate wherefore Hoffman tin look to beryllium telling Harris to occurrence Khan truthful that the institution helium has monolithic fiscal interests in—Microsoft—can proceed consolidating its powerfulness successful the tech industry, adjacent though, apparently, that’s not what he’s doing!

Somewhere successful the mediate of this idiotic conversation, Tapper yet decided to conscionable the lowest imaginable barroom required to telephone himself a writer and pointed retired the evident to Hoffman: “There aren’t similar a 100 Reid Hoffmans! It’s not similar 1 of you is simply a donor and 1 of you has opinions connected Lina Khan, and 1 of you is connected the committee of Microsoft, and 1 of you is simply a task capitalist. You’re each the aforesaid guy,” helium said.

Hoffman didn’t truly person overmuch to accidental to that. He had seemingly been banking connected the conception that his unsocial mentation of the quality property would sway some Tapper and the viewers astatine home. He pivoted backmost to elemental denial: “I’ve ne'er had a speech with Kamala Harris astir this,” Hoffman insisted.

Why Hoffman has contributed wealth to Harris portion besides publically suggesting that she occurrence Khan is evident to anyone moderately alert of the FTC’s activities implicit the past fewer years. Under Khan, the bureau launched a multi-year effort to halt a merger betwixt Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard, arguing that it would marque Microsoft the third-largest gaming institution successful the country. Then, past month, the FTC opened a probe into Microsoft’s narration with InflectionAI, an AI startup that the tech elephantine entered into a concern statement with earlier this year. Hoffman and others astatine Microsoft would evidently similar the inquiries to stop, and they deliberation the mode to bash that is to unseat Khan.

Silicon Valley has played an unusually salient relation successful this year’s statesmanlike election. While it’s regular for tech executives to lend wealth to governmental candidates, it isn’t truthful regular for those executives to marque loud, splashy proclamations of enactment for 1 campaigner implicit another. Yet, successful caller weeks, crypto moguls and red-pilled billionaires similar Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen person publically announced their enactment for Donald Trump, portion a bevy of task superior firms, precocious formalized arsenic VCsforKamala, person travel retired successful enactment of Harris.

The VCsforKamala assemblage includes signatories from much than 100 antithetic firms, including Hoffman himself, arsenic good arsenic respective different figures tied to firms who previously lobbied against the FTC’s intervention into the Microsoft-Activision deal. It’s conscionable different motion that the dense hitters of the tech manufacture consciousness they person a batch to suffer (and, potentially, adjacent much to gain) depending connected who ends up successful the White House adjacent year.

Wow @jaketapper asks billionaire Reid Hoffman astir his large $$ donations to Kamala Harris and past his nationalist petition to occurrence Lina Khan, the antitrust enforcer investigating his companies. Doesn’t spell good for Hoffman. pic.twitter.com/X9xPys3iIg

— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 31, 2024